Unplanned Revelations
by silver-gossamer
Summary: Ren ends up in hospital in a coma after a car accident. What will happen when he wakes up as his 15 year old self, Kuon Hizuri, with no memories of being Ren Tsuruga? Will he unintentionally reveal his own secrets to Yashiro and Kyouko?
1. Accident

**A/N:** This is my first fanfic and was written to pass the month away while painfully waiting for the next installment (ch 149) of Skip Beat. So far I've planned for this story to be a short 6-chapter story, though this may change as I go. As I haven't properly written fiction for a few years and I feel that my writing style has become a bit dry, any suggestions, reviews and constructive feedback is welcome. Enjoy =)

Disclaimer: I do not own Skip Beat or any of its characters.

* * *

**Unplanned Revelations**

**Chapter 1 – Accident**

Sitting in the front passenger seat of the car, Yashiro stared unhappily at the convenience-store tuna onigiri in his hands before looking askance at Ren, whose attention was firmly focused on the traffic ahead while absently nibbling at his own tuna onigiri. Disapprovingly, Yashiro watched as the handsome young actor polished off the remnants of his so-called lunch, before disposing of the plastic wrapper in his jacket pocket._ Kyouko-chan was right,_ he thought broodingly, _This man's idea of food is _definitely _not normal_. Shaking his head, Yashiro let out a long sigh.

"Ren, I know eating is not your favourite activity, but you should seriously look after your body more," Ren's manager said in frustration, "I can understand having to eat convenience-store-type meals when we're in a hurry, but this time, not to mention the vast majority of your other lunch times during the last few weeks, it's not as if we're in any rush since you finished your previous job early with one-takes again.

"Seriously, we have over an hour to travel to our next shooting location, the car trip to which takes less than fifteen minutes."

Getting no response from the expressionless driver, Yashiro frowned unhappily at him, his expression turning sullen as he complained in a sulky voice, "Really, it hurts my feelings when you don't use the time that I took especial care to allocate for your meals to eat properly."

This last finally caused Ren to heave a long drawn-out sigh of his own. It was not that he was eating less than usual on purpose, it was just that having to concentrate on acting out mysterious actor X and cold-blooded murderer BJ while at the same time trying to keep up the gentlemanly facade of Ren Tsuruga was proving to be much more taxing than he had anticipated. With each successive time he immersed himself in BJ's character, it became harder and harder for him to change back into his Ren Tsuruga persona. It was as if the darkness in BJ was a dangerous contaminant - the longer he came into contact with it, the more it threatened to seep under his skin, to overwhelm him and revert him back to his former hateful self; and that made him literally want to throw up each time he finally managed to return to being Ren Tsuruga. If not for having to play eccentric actor X, who helped to ease the transition between BJ and Ren Tsuruga, he had no doubt Yashiro would have noted his various uncharacteristic lapses in behaviour. As it was, however, any inconsistencies with his Ren Tsuruga persona was attributed to actor X.

Trying to think of a plausible excuse for not eating properly, Ren belatedly realised that Yashiro was in fact, not quite finished with lecturing him.

"... and besides what will Kyouko-chan say? It's hardly fair when it's me who's going to end up getting half-killed rather than _you_, the irresponsible guy at the centre of all this! Well? What do you have to say for yourself? A grown man like you not even-"

At Yashiro's mention of Kyouko's name, the manager's unhappy complaints dissolved into background noise as the memory of a short, petite, black-haired girl half-strangling his manager on the Dark Moon set while yelling at him not to let the actor do his own food shopping rose unbidden to Ren's mind, making him smile faintly. Truly, he was blessed and more than grateful to have Kyouko and Yashiro looking out for him like this - even if one of them did happen to be an occasional royal pain in the arse with his shrewd observations and merciless teasing. But he supposed he could live with that given he had figured out that it was his busy-body, albeit highly competent, manager who took care to keep tabs on Kyouko's schedule and find opportunities for him to run into her whenever possible, much to his secret joy. For that, Ren supposed he owed Yashiro an honest explanation for his minimalistic diet. Besides, it may be the only way he could successfully convince Yashiro that forcing him to eat more than he could handle right now was a bad idea.

"-knowing how to take care of your own health. Seriously! What would you do without me. Hey Ren ... Are you even listening to me?!"

"Ah, I'm sorry Yashiro-san," Ren apologised with an unusually quiet air, a faint smile still visible on his handsome face, "It's just that ... playing BJ is proving more of a challenge than I had expected. I mentioned it at the beginning right? That unlike Katsuki who would only occasionally release the darkness within him, BJ himself is like a mass of darkness; and somehow that makes me feel ... physically ill each time I have to act him out. If I had to eat any more than a very light meal, I really feel like I would end up throwing up."

"Ren ..."

The young actor's soft-spoken admission had startled Yashiro, and for a long moment he was at a loss as to how to respond. Since becoming his manager, this was the first time Ren had openly admitted to him that he was having problems with a role, and he didn't know whether to feel overjoyed to be confided in, or be worried by the uncharacteristic admission by the young actor who had a habit of disappearing off to study his scripts alone, not to mention a reputation of being able to handle just about anything on his own before he had been assigned as his manager. As far as Yashiro knew, the only person Ren had ever confided his acting problems to was the chicken, Bo, whose identity he did not know.

While Yashiro really wanted to ask Ren why BJ's role was causing him so much trouble, given he had done such a good job at acting out the dark Katsuki, he felt that even if he did ask and Ren did answer, he would not be of any help. Since that was the case, the least Yashiro thought he could do to lessen Ren's troubles was to go easy on him for once. After all, Ren did look a little more tired and worn out than usual lately, and it did not help that Kyouko's increasingly busy schedule meant that despite his prowess at rearranging the young actor's schedule, Ren had been forced to survive on only one Love Me section visit per week.

Sighing into the silence that had settled into the car, Yashiro relented reluctantly. "Ah well," he said magnanimously, "I suppose I'll let you get away with it this time, since I don't particularly want the world to see the usually suave and cool Ren Tsuruga throwing up in front of the cast after a shoot, even if he does happen to be disguised as actor X."

"Why, thank you Yashiro-san," Ren half laughed in relief, himself not liking the image that Yashiro's fanciful imagination drew up.

"But Ren,"

The young actor's attention perked up at the suddenly stern and serious tone of his manager. "What is it Yashiro-san?" he asked, glancing briefly at him before returning his attention to the road.

They had approached a busy intersection between two main roads and seeing the lights turn from green to yellow, Ren watched the car before him speed up to make the long crossing while he himself decelerated the car and parked the handbrake after gradually coming to a stop; from experience, the lights at this particular section took ages to change, which was a bit of an annoyance since at this time of day there never seemed to be much traffic travelling from east to west or west to east while there was plenty going from north to south or south to north. Absently noting the lack of traffic on the east to west lanes, Ren observed peripherally that today was much the same as he listened to what Yashiro had to say.

"Ren, at least promise me you'll try to make up for what you missed at lunch by eating a proper dinner. I don't want you losing weight and turning into a skeleton because of this job."

"Ah… I promise I'll try Yashiro-san," Ren smiled weakly at him, hoping that will be the end of their food-related conversation.

"Good!"

Reassured by his promise since Ren wasn't the type to go back on his word, Yashiro's mood immediately lightened as a happy idea crossed his mind. "Well then, since we have plenty of time, perhaps we should drop by LME and see if we can catch Kyouko-chan on her lunch break before she heads off to shoot Box-R?" _Perhaps I'll be able to persuade Kyouko to convince Ren to _finally_ show me his female version of the catwalk!_ he thought devilishly.

Yashiro's hopes were dashed however, when Ren sighed, "Yashiro-san, don't you think that's rather risky given it _is _lunch time?"

"Ah … I suppose you're right." Letting out a discontented sigh of his own, Yashiro didn't bother to hide his disappointment as he too turned his attention to the road, trying to determine where they were. Recognising the large intersection, he judged they were only about ten minutes away from their shooting location.

Shaking his head, he wondered what he was meant to do with himself since Ren was likely to disappear to study his scripts again, leaving him with nothing to do for the next hour or so since they were so early.

Meanwhile, distracted by their conversation about lunch and Kyouko, Ren was on automatic pilot as he watched the traffic lights finally turn green. Unparking the handbrake, he placed his foot on the accelerator, not catching the black four-wheel drive at the corner of his vision that had failed to stop at its own red light and was rapidly speeding towards him.

"REN! WATCH OUT!"

Yashiro's warning came too late as the four-wheel drive smashed directly into the driver's compartment at terrifyingly high speed, causing both cars to spin out of control as the sickening sound of screeching tyres, shattering glass and twisting metal filled the air.

* * *

"REN! REN!"

From somewhere very distant, Ren heard a familiar, yet panicked voice shouting his name. Mustering what strength he had, he strained to open his eyes only to have his vision swim before him. Blinking, it took a while for the face above him to come into focus.

For some reason, Yashiro had an extremely worried look on his face as he said something about staying awake and that something was coming soon. Why did he look so worried? Did he break his phone again despite having put both of his gloves on? He seemed to be asking him questions, but he couldn't quite make out what he was saying. His voice seemed so far away.

From somewhere in the corner of his mind, Ren dimly noted that Yashiro wasn't actually holding onto his phone, but was holding something that looked like a red-stained cloth which he kept using to wipe away something hot and sticky that kept trickling down his neck. In the meanwhile, his other hand was pressing something forcefully against the right side of his head.

Was that the instant ice compress from the car's first aid kit? Why was he pressing it to his head?

The familiar sensation of something cool against his head caused Ren's disorientated mind to see things as his vision wavered and was replaced by a familiar image of a worried six year old girl with cute twin pony tails placing a wet handkerchief on his head.

_Corn! Are you okay?_

"Thank you, Kyouko-chan," Ren whispered tiredly at the small figure, trying to reassure her with a smile despite the fierce pain he was beginning to feel in his head. She looked like she was about to cry and he didn't have the heart to tell her that a wet handkerchief might not be enough to help him this time.

_Corn! Don't go!_

As he felt his remaining strength to stay awake seep away, Ren wished he could have stayed behind to console the crying girl. With her sweet, hardworking nature it was incomprehensible that her mother did not seem to love her, causing her to run to the forest to hide her tears. It really would be unforgivable if he too became another figure in her life who did nothing but make her cry.


	2. Ren's Emergency Contact

**A/N:** Hi all, I'm so sorry I took so long to update this! Real life kind of took over, not to mention that I'm actually quite a painfully slow writer. Also I was kind of sad after discovering my predictions that not even Kyouko would be told the identity of actor X until after everything was finished weren't quite correct. But then again, I'm ecstatic over the direction Nakamura-sensei has taken with the manga! (Oh President, you really are the most devious and cunning and best conniver ever!) XDD.

I was a bit discouraged to continue this because the current developments in the manga meant that this little story would never have taken place, and I debated whether I should just abandon this. But having received so many positive reviews from everyone I really feel encouraged to continue and finish it! So a Huge Thank You to everyone for reading and reviewing, and may you like this chapter as much as the first.

The next section of this story is in 3 parts, and I actually wasn't going to release this chapter until after I've finished all the parts and grouped everything together as one big chapter. But as I was still writing it, it began to feel rather too long, so I decided to break it up – which sadly means drawing out the moment when poor Ren/Kuon wakes up just by a tiny bit! ^^;;

Anyway, please enjoy. And thank you once again for everyone's reviews!

Standard Disclaimer applies. I do not own Skip Beat or any of its characters.

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**Unplanned Revelations**

**Chapter 2 – Ren's Emergency Contact**

Oblivious to the various painful cuts and bruises on his own body, Yashiro paced frantically around the hospital waiting room, unable to keep still nor remain calm as he gripped Ren's phone tightly against his ear. Silently, he screamed for the head of LME's acting department to pick up on the other end. Unlike Ren, who had suffered a serious head injury despite the airbags that had deployed as the speeding four-wheel drive had crashed into the young actor's side of the car, Yashiro had escaped relatively unscathed. Moments earlier, one of the doctors had asked him if he could urgently contact Ren's family as he was in a critical condition and needed to undergo emergency surgery to remove a dangerous blood clot in his brain, which was causing his comatose state. Time permitting, they wanted to obtain his parents informed consent as well as Ren's detailed medical history beforehand.

At the mention of the words 'coma', 'critical condition' and 'emergency surgery', Yashiro's mouth had gone dry with fear before the dilemma of having to contact Ren's family sent him into a panic. Just how on _earth _was he going to contact Ren's parents when he had never once heard him mention his family apart from the time he had asked the young actor whether or not he'd ever played hero games with his dad?

Feeling distinctly shaky, Yashiro had been about to call Matsushima for information when a thought suddenly struck him. Surely Ren would have his family's numbers stored in his mobile? Thanking the Gods that it was just his own cell he had unintentionally killed when he panicked after the crash and called the ambulance without his gloves, Yashiro flipped open Ren's phone and quickly searched through his contacts – Mother, Father, Brother, Sister, Uncle, Aunt, someone with 'Tsuruga' as a surname … Nothing!

_What the hell? How on _earth _was this possible?_

Staring disbelievingly at the phone clutched in his hands, it had taken Yashiro a full minute to recover from his stunned shock before he stoically dialled for the chief of LME's acting department. If he was going to find any answers, it would be there, since every actor, singer, artist or talent who was accepted into LME was required to fill out the official paperwork(1), which included providing a mandatory family or emergency contact. Listening to the dial tone ring unanswered for the umpteenth time, Yashiro was about to tear out his hair from frayed nerves when he heard the click of the phone being picked up on the other end and he abruptly stopped his frantic pacing.

"Hello? LME Acting Department, Matsushima speaking," a familiar voice greeted him congenially.

"Matshushima-san! Thank God! Please-I-need-Ren's-family-contact-details-immediately-could-you-give-them-to-me?"

"Er … Yashiro-san?" the chief asked hesitantly, recognising the voice but not quite sure it was Ren's manager given his highly uncharacteristic and totally incoherent outburst, "Yashiro-san ... Is that you? What's wrong? You sound panicked…"

Realising the chief had barely understood a word he said, Yashiro took in a deep breath and tried to slow down. "Matsushima-san," he tried again, his voice not quite steady as he forced himself to remain calm, "Ren's unconscious in hospital in the emergency room right now and I need to contact his parents for him to undergo emergency brain surgery! You've got the paperwork for when he entered LME right? Please give me his parents number!"

There was a pause at the other end of the line as the chief of the acting department re-processed Yashiro's words.

"Ren's WHAT?" Matsushima shouted. His loud exclamation caused the office behind him to go suddenly quiet as the few workers who had yet to go on their lunch break turned to stare at him. Realising his mistake, Matsushima quietened down again, "Is he okay? What happened?"

"We were in a car accident. Matsushima-san, _please_, I don't have time to explain the details. _I need Ren's family contact!_"

"Ah, sorry Yashiro-san. I understand. One moment, let me locate his papers."

For what seemed like an eternity, Yashiro waited as Matsushima placed the receiver down and he heard the chief trying to forestall his colleagues' questions as he went about sliding and closing cabinet drawers and rapidly sorting through files to find what was needed.

"Tatsumi, Tenjo, Tomiko, Tsuboki … " Matsushima mumbled to himself as he flipped through a set of alphabetically arranged manila folders in one of the cabinets. There were a zillion questions he wanted to ask Yashiro himself, but he knew now was not the time as he concentrated on finding Ren's paperwork, "Ah! here it is, Tsuruga Ren.

"Taking out the manila folder, he dropped the file on his desk and opened it before picking up the phone again. Quickly locating the required document, he skimmed through its contents out loud for Yashiro as he ran his fingers down the page, "Name, date of birth, contact number, residential address, family contact … Ah... I'm sorry Yashiro-san, but Ren's family contact is blank."

"WHAT?"

"However, I've got his emergency contact right he– "

Matsushima's voice suddenly trailed off as if he had seen something that had stunned him out of words. With his fingers frozen at the bottom of the page, he stared at the name Ren had written down in his neat, tidy handwriting before shaking his head in disbelief. Was this some kind of joke? But Ren wasn't the type to joke around. In that case, surely this was just a coincidence? Quickly, he checked the name against one of the two phone numbers Ren had provided. No, there was no mistake. _That _was definitely the man's direct line and the other, no doubt, was the guy's personal mobile number. But how was it possible that anyone could have missed this(2)?

"Hello? Matsushima-san? _Matsushima-san!_ The emergency contact! What is it? Don't tell me it's actually blank as well!" Yashiro almost screamed at him in panic.

"Ah, sorry. I'll transfer you right away."

"_What?_ Who are you transferring me to? Why? What has this got to do with Ren's emergency contact? Matsushima-san, you do realise this is an emergency!"

"Ah … well," Matsushima replied rather uncertainly, "that's the thing. It says here on Ren's form, Emergency contact: Lory Takarada; relationship: legal guardian."

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**Notes:**

(1) The form intended in this story is different to the ones handed in to the judges when those wanting to enter LME are having their auditions. It is more official or contractual, and I would imagine that anyone who was successful in the auditions would have had to fill in some such form – especially if they were underage at the time, which I think Ren was even though it wasn't explicitly stated in the manga.

(2) If, like Matsushima, you're wondering about Ren's application and how anyone could have missed the important information of Lory being his legal guardian, I think this is actually quite easy to do. For busy people who are always having to process countless application forms everyday, they'll use the quickest method to finish their jobs, which is to skim over everything just to make sure all the mandatory sections on the forms are filled in before they were filed. Ren was not well known at the time, so just like anyone else's forms his application was quickly given the once-over.

If Ren had left out both contacts on purpose, the result would have been that someone would have noticed the missing information and asked him to fill in one or the other. If that had happened, whoever had asked him to refill the form would definitely have looked properly at the contact when Ren handed it in again, and they would indeed have made an unnecessary fuss. Ren (at least in this story) had the foresight to predict this, so he properly filled in the form the first time round and hoped for the best that no-one would really notice Lory's name. Needless to say, he would NEVER EVER have written down Kuu or Julie's names as that would defeat the entire purpose of him being in Japan!

And in the case that anyone _did_ happen to notice Lory's name, I don't think it would have proven to be that much of an issue since 1) Ren is not related to Lory in any way and 2) Lory being who he is would be more than fair when judging him for the auditions (and my feelings are that Lory WOULD have made him audition to get into LME). Just as the President would have unhesitatingly pulled Ren off the Dark Moon set if he had failed his acting test as Katsuki, he would have mercilessly cut him off from the auditions if he wasn't good enough^^;; In fact, I think Lory would have been EXTRA hard on Ren at the auditions, don't you? XDD


	3. Reminiscence

**Unplanned Revelations**

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Skip Beat or any of its characters.

**Chapter 2 – Reminiscence**

Blissfully ignorant of the dire emergency that was taking place, Lory Takarada stared at the huge plasma television screen before him with wide, loving, teary puppy eyes and an entirely involuntary smile on his face. Just as he had been moved by the piano scene between Katsuki and Mitsuki during Ren's acting test for Dark Moon, he was once again transfixed by the same scene being played out in the luxurious comfort of his own private office on top floor of LME. No matter how many times he re-watched the piano scene between Katsuki and Mitsuki, he felt his heart skip a beat and his soul sing with joy as Katsuki finally acknowledged the depth of his love for Mitsuki. Ah, the unbearable tension and suspense as Katsuki maliciously tries to drive Mitsuki away! Followed by the happy, sweetly touching and heart-warming moment as Katsuki gives in to his feelings and teases Mitsuki after racing her on the piano! Ahhhhh, the scene was just too perfect!

Wait. Perfect?

No no no! Just what was he thinking! He'd never admit that in front of the boy's face!

Wiping the blissful smile off his face, Lory sobered suddenly before surreptitiously turning his head this way and that as if to check if anyone had seen his slip. Then realising how silly he must have looked, he smiled wryly at himself. For him to have been involuntarily sucked in again… That boy, he can _finally _act as if he were in love convincingly! Chuckling, Lory leaned back onto the cushions of the sofa he was lounging on and thought back over the events that had led to such a most excellent development.

At first, when Ogata and Ren had argued with him over letting Ren play Katsuki, Lory had thought he would never be able to pull off the role convincingly given his shallow experiences of love. And given Ren's reluctance to go beyond a superficial relationship with anyone, Lory had found it highly unlikely he'd be able to obtain any such experience in true love any time soon. In the end however, he had chosen to trust Ren's decision and had given in to his insistence. And boy, who would have predicted the unexpected results!

With equal feelings of exasperation, love and pride, Lory shook his head wonderingly. The idiot. What was he doing falling in love with his number one Love Me member? Did he really enjoy torturing himself so much? Not that he disapproved of his choice of course. Ren was the perfect candidate to help Kyouko regain that very important human emotion. Not only that, given Kyouko's surprising ability to fix problem people such as Ruriko and Maria, she might just be the one able to help Ren get over his past.

Thinking about Ren and the distance he had come since he had moved to Japan, a fond smile played over Lory's face. He was so vastly different to the angry, hurt and fragile fifteen-year-old he had taken away from his parents.

Since he had known him, Kuon had always been an intelligent, respectful, kind-hearted and sensitive child who was at times unexpectedly cheeky and mischievous. So it was unimaginable that in the five years since the Hizuri's had come to holiday in Kyoto he had changed from a cute, gentle, caring, naive and innocent child to someone who was cold, cynical, hostile, violent and hot-tempered and looked down upon the world. At least that had been the outward impression he gave to everyone. Lory, being who he was, however – and who always had an uncanny knack for reading people – saw through the cold mask Kuon had donned to protect a vulnerable heart. Where others saw a cold and apathetic fifteen-year-old, what he saw was a tortured teen driven almost beyond the brink after silently enduring other people's unthinking cruelty for far too long. The fact that he had known him since he was a child made it all the more easier for him to read.

When Kuu had first phoned him to tell him of Kuon's situation, Lory had actually not been that worried - Kuu, being the incurably doting father that he was, had a tendency to over-dramatise things whenever it came to his only son. It was not until he had first walked into their home in America that he realised the seriousness of the situation. When he had first seen the boy after five years, he truly did look as if he would fall apart and drift away to the next world at any moment. More than just depressed, he had looked pale and painfully thin, staring out his bedroom window lifelessly like a person who had given everything up in despair. The fact that Kuu had been so worried as to pull out of a job halfway in order to be at home to watch over him only made the situation worse, with Kuon feeling furious at both his father and at himself for causing Kuu to commit such an unprofessional transgression.

When Lory had asked Kuon whether he wanted to escape from a place that did not seem to value his existence, and the boy's expression had slowly changed from utter defeat to determination, he thought it best to take Kuon with him at once – Kuu may have steeled his heart and had been prepared to let Kuon go, but if Julie had been there, she would have tried anything to make Kuon stay, pleading for a different solution to a complicated problem that needed an immediate remedy. And so it was that Lory took Kuon away without waiting for Julie to come home, and Kuon came to adopt the façade of Ren Tsuruga – someone who's personality was so different to Kuon Hizuri as to be his very anti-thesis. But while Ren Tsuruga was the complete opposite of fifteen-year-old Kuon, he was not so dissimilar to his kind and gentle ten-year-old self. More than just a persona for the sake of burying his past, Ren Tsuruga was someone he really wanted to be (and perhaps had easily grown up to be) if not for the callous treatment he had encountered from rival co-workers who had no doubt accused him of riding on the smooth road his father had already paved for him.

During the few years Kuon had lived in Japan, almost two were spent in intensive study as he struggled to catch up on and improve his Japanese. While Kuon was adept at reading hiragana and katakana, he could barely manage the most basic kanji. Even today, it was a very well-kept secret that _the_ Ren Tsuruga depended on his mobile phone and its online dictionary to get through most of his scripts, which was why Ren tended to disappear on Yashiro whenever he needed to rehearse his lines. Smiling and shaking his head, Lory recalled the first time Kuon had been seriously furious with him during the first year or so that the boy had lived with him.

Knowing full well that his level of Japanese proficiency was probably only at primary school level, Lory had decided to throw him down the deep end and enrolled him into High School without asking his opinion on the matter. If looks could kill, the murderous glare Kuon had given him that day would have finished him off instantly. And if words could take on a form the then still hot-tempered teen would have easily set fire to the house in the ensuing argument that followed. In the end, however, Kuon took on the challenge of High School in Japan with remarkable aplomb, and Lory was more than impressed as he watched the boy spend countless late nights stubbornly huddled over his Japanese textbooks, and he gradually progressed from failing his Japanese literacy tests spectacularly to consistently achieving scores above eighty.

In a sense, he supposed he should not have been surprised. After all, whether it was his determination and hardworking nature or his serious attitude towards work, Kuon did not lose to his father in any way. The fact that now he had even managed to match up to his father's portrayal of Katsuki from twenty years ago was testament to that. And while he still had a fair way to go before he fully surpassed Kuu, he was well on his way to doing so. Lory certainly looked forward to the day when Kuon would finally be able to find the strength and courage to reclaim his true name and identity.

Talking about strength and courage and how far Kuon had come, Lory's expression was once again one of fond exasperation. Just what was that boy thinking when he accepted the role of playing BJ? He would have thought it was a role Kuon would never ever have wanted to even touch given all the things he had gone through. While the fact that he had decided to give such a role a go meant that Kuon _had _gotten a little stronger and was perhaps more willing and able to deal his past self which he had kept deeply buried for all these years, playing BJ was still a considerable risk. Sighing, Lory shook his head at the thought of having to pick up the pieces if anything untoward were to happen. While he supposed he should be feeling a more relaxed about the matter given the boy now had Yashiro and even Kyouko to watch out for him instead of just he and Maria, Lory was still rather worried. Because while he knew Kuon had a genuine liking for Yashiro, and while he was in love with Kyouko, he still had a tendency to keep himself at a safe distance from the both of them.

After five whole years, the boy still didn't make friends easily (and given his disastrous experiences in the past he could hardly blame him) and while Lory had no problem being the one that Kuon had chosen to confide in, he was constantly fretting that the young actor would be left with no support if he ever encountered a situation where he can't talk to him. Sighing discontentedly, the President shelved the frustrating problem with no solution to the back of his head. There was hardly any point in worrying about a thing that, with luck, might not even happen. Indeed, right now time would be better spent trying to come up with plans to make _the _Ren Tsuruga a more gossip-worthy man! That's right! There has to be a way to make the number one most _utterly boring_ man more interesting!

Perking up at the prospect of a new project to occupy himself with, Lory felt his previously sombre mood lightening up immensely as he began to toy with various ideas in his love-obssessed mind, and a devious smile crept onto his face. While Lory was indeed extremely proud of the successful young actor Ren had become, he occasionally found himself missing Ren's other self. Compared to fifteen-year-old Kuon, _the _Ren Tsuruga, who was way too outwardly perfect and beyond reproach, was absolutely no fun at all! Can't the boy have chosen to become a guy less infuriatingly ... staid? It was a wonder people didn't find his gentlemanliness rather fake at times, always hiding his true feelings behind his brilliantly charming smile whenever he was angry. Rather than the overly serious and formal Ren, Lory really did much prefer the hot-tempered, highly sarcastic and occasionally violent fifteen-year-old who would cause a heap of trouble and unreservedly start arguments with him whenever he was mad.

Then again, maybe not.

After all, the last time he _had _really made Kuon-who-was-not-quite-Ren angry, the audacious teen had taken it upon himself to extensively cull his entire DVD collection of his favourite limited edition romance films. Chuckling over that particular disaster, which had left Lory distraught for an entire month, the President still had a fond, proud smile on his face and was still blissfully cooking up various plans to play around with (and help) Ren when his assistant knocked on the door.

"President, there's an emergency phone call for you from Yashiro-san," the man said, holding out the antique phone.

Emergency phone call? From Ren's consummate manager? At this time of day when the boy was meant to be having lunch? Surely not…

Sobering immediately, Lory felt distinctly uneasy as he lifted the handset to take Yashiro's call.


	4. A First Rate Actress

**Unplanned Revelations**

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Skip Beat or any of its characters.

**Chapter 3 – A First-rate Actress**

Yay! Update! I actually planned to post this chapter mid last month, but this has been so hard to write that I didn't finish it till today . I hope I didn't make Kyouko cry overly much….

Also, based on some reviewer's comments, I've changed the last few paragaphs of the previous chapter so that the transition between Lory's thoughts and actions would flow a bit better and feel less sudden. Thank you cacrulz, layalatania and J Luc Pitard for pointing out the sudden shift and your suggestions for making it better!

Once again, thank you all for reading and reviewing!

~SG

* * *

"CUT! NG!" Director Anna called out curtly to the four girls on stage before letting out another long, frustrated sigh. For the tenth successive time that afternoon, Natsu had missed her lines and had completely blanked out in the middle of filming for no reason. Well, maybe not for no reason given the shocking – and very ill-timed – news of Ren Tsuruga's accident right before filming. If only today's shooting of Box-R hadn't been so horrendously delayed.

Running a hand through his hair in exasperation, the director approached the stage. Asking the three girls who played Kaori, Tugumi and Yumiko to take a short break, he walked up to the remaining young actress who still stood frozen like a statue on the set.

"Kyouko-chan. Kyouko-chan?" he called out worriedly to the shell-shocked girl beside him, waving a hand in front of her face, "Kyouko-chan, are you okay?"

"Eh?"

The worried voice of the director abruptly brought Kyouko back to reality. Taking in her surroundings, she paled as she realised that she and the director were the only ones left standing on set. Mortified she must have missed his call for 'cut' again, she turned and bowed deeply to him.

"I'm so sorry Director Anna," she apologised profusely, extremely flustered and upset, "I'm really very sorry. Please let me try again. I'll get it right the next time. Please, I'm really very sorry."

Watching the distressed girl bow and apologise to him for the millionth time that day, the director sighed dejectedly. It wasn't that he didn't understand how she and most of his highly unsettled staff were feeling right now. Hell, he himself had been a little shaken when he heard the news concerning Ren Tsuruga. But while he was sympathetic to Kyouko and his staff, he was also feeling the stress of having to finish filming today's scenes on schedule. Not only did he have less time for filming today due to an hour's delay caused by an unexpected technical glitch, he also had to contend with some of his actors' extra tight timetables – the two actresses playing Kaori and Tugumi had to leave within the next two hours and if he didn't manage to finish the more crucial scenes with Natsu and her group, he knew he would be faced with a rescheduling nightmare.

In fact, he had hoped to count on Kyouko to help him catch up on some of the lost time; whenever she became Natsu, Kaori and Tugumi were inevitably drawn in by her acting and would react so naturally to her that most of the scenes involving Natsu's group only required one or two takes to shoot. He really hadn't expected her to freeze like a deer stuck in headlights take after take. It was just so uncharacteristic of the impressive young actress who he had come to deeply respect for her hard-working nature and exemplary professionalism. For her to become so upset as to completely lose her focus, Ren Tsuruga must be more than just an ordinary sempai to her.

Running a hand through his hair again, the director decided it was time to try a different approach. However much he wished for it to happen, it wouldn't do to spend the rest of the afternoon waiting to see if Natsu would miraculously reappear.

"Kyouko-chan," he said kindly to the girl who still had her head bowed, "why don't you take a break for a while. See if you can regain your focus and get back into character while we film some of the other scenes first."

"I'm sorry director. I'm really very– "

"It's okay Kyouko-chan. I know the news concerning Tsuruga-kun has come as a great shock, and that it's difficult to try and put him out of your mind right now, but I'm sure you can do it. Go take a rest, and when you think you're ready to take on Natsu again, we'll film your scenes."

Upset by Ren's accident and depressed over her own incompetence, Kyouko could only nod and thank the director for his consideration as she apologised to him once more before heading towards her dressing room.

* * *

Inside her dressing room, Kyouko was trying her best. She really was. But no matter how hard she tried to become Natsu, she just couldn't do it. Not today. Not now. Not when right before today's delayed shooting of Box-R, she and everyone else who had been waiting in the cafeteria had heard the special news broadcast on television that Ren Tsuruga had been involved in a car accident and was now in a critical condition in hospital. Kyouko knew she had her lines down – she had the script perfectly memorised days before. She also knew how she wanted to portray Natsu for today's scenes, but as she prepared to face her co-stars on set once more, her mind just refused to focus, instead cruelly fixed on the image of a familiar Porsche badly crushed and twisted on one side with the driver's broken door lying on a road strewn with shattered glass and metal debris. As if the disturbing image imprinted on her mind were not enough, the words of the news reporter kept cruelly replaying over and over in her head.

_Earlier this afternoon, actor Ren Tsuruga was rushed into intensive care following a serious high-speed car collision near Shibuya. The 21-year-old is believed to have sustained severe head injuries and is reportedly in a critical condition…_

'Rushed into intensive care'.

'Serious high-speed car collision'.

Surely someone had made a mistake. There was no way Ren Tsuruga would be involved in a 'high-speed car collision'. Tsuruga-san was such a safe driver. He always allowed for extra time to travel between shooting locations. He would never be caught speeding. It just wasn't him. That's right, this was all just some cruel, tasteless joke. A case of mistaken identity. There was no way Tsuruga-san was in a 'critical condition' in hospital right now.

'Severe head injuries'.

'Reportedly in a critical condition'.

But what if it were really true? What if Tsuruga-san was so badly injured he was going to die? He wouldn't die, right?

He _can't_ die.

Unexpectedly, the tears Kyouko had been fighting back all afternoon began to fall as she thought of Ren not being there anymore. _What was she meant to do if he really _did_ die? _  
She can't possibly lose the sempai she respected more than anyone else! He was the one who had made her realise the sort of actress – the sort of _person_ – she wanted to become. If not for him, she would never have made it this far, would never have thought to do something for herself and become someone who others – who she _herself _– would be proud of. Tsuruga-san had always been there for her whenever she needed guidance and support. He was the one person whose very existence gave her courage and self-confidence. The only one besides Corn who had never let her down.

That's right, Corn! How could she have forgotten!

Trying to hold back her tears, Kyouko reached for her bag and quickly rummaged through its contents. Unable to immediately find the tiny coin purse she always carried with her, she panicked and upended her bag's contents onto the floor.

"Corn! Where are you?" she wailed as she knelt on the ground, her trembling hands frantically sorting through her scattered mess. Brushing aside a pile of her school textbooks, she almost broke down in relief when she spotted the object she was looking for. Grabbing the tiny coin purse, she unclicked it to tip Corn's stone into her hand. In her haste however, Kyouko fumbled clumsily and her precious blue rock dropped out of her hands and bounced off the tiled floor with a loud clatter.

"_Corn_!"

Horrified by her slip, Kyouko's eyes overflowed with tears again as she fearfully followed the stone's erratic bounce across the room. Fortunately, her scattered belongings quickly stopped the rock's progress as it landed on something soft. Brushing back the tears that were blurring her vision, Kyouko turned to see where Corn had landed and was momentarily dazed by what she saw. As if Corn knew the reason she was crying, the blue stone had come to rest on top of one of her Ren dolls - the one which had his 'not impressed' face on, and who at that moment looked as if he were scolding her for dropping Corn on top of his stomach. He had one arm bent at the elbow so that he was pointing a finger at her accusingly while his other arm lay flat across the floor, his finger pointed at the phone lying next to him.

Ren's oddly apt pose made Kyouko dredge up a weak smile. "I'm sorry," she sniffed, unable to stop the tears that rolled down her cheeks as she picked up Corn and Ren and hugged the two tightly to her chest.

"I'm sorry Corn, I'm sorry Tsuruga-san," she cried, not quite sure whether she was apologising for being clumsy, for not being able to stop crying, or for being unable to pull herself together to act Natsu. Her thoughts were in a confused mess as she clutched at the two things that were most precious to her and she whispered a fervent prayer to the one who had always listened.

"Please Corn. You have to protect Tsuruga-san. Please make sure he's okay. Please."

After a long while of whispered prayers, Kyouko was finally able to recover enough composure to stop crying uncontrollably. While she was still upset and scared, she at least felt much calmer after talking to Corn – somehow, no matter how sad or hopeless a situation she found herself in, the magical stone could always absorb at least a bit of her sadness and insecurity.

Still sniffling but feeling much better than before, Kyouko held the unimpressed Ren doll in front of her."I don't suppose you can tell me if you're okay right now?" she asked him weakly with a strained smile. If only there was a way she could make sure that he was fine. About to move Ren's arms back to their normal resting position, her mind suddenly registered the object he had been pointing to before she had picked him up.

That's right! Her phone! She had both Yashiro-san's and Tsuruga-san's number. She can call either of them to confirm the situation! Why on earth did she not think of it before?

Hurriedly grabbing her mobile from the floor, Kyouko keyed in the number she knew by heart and waited anxiously for Ren to pick up, entirely forgetting the probability of her call going to voicemail. To her surprise, the phone was answered on the second ring.

"Hello?"

"Tsuruga-san! Thank goodness you're okay!" Kyouko exclaimed tearily, her face lit up by an immensely relieved smile. Her joyful relief was short-lived however when Yashiro's voice greeted her hesitantly on the other end.

"Ky… Kyouko-chan?"

"Eh? Yashiro-san?" Kyouko's expression changed to one of worry and confusion as a feeling of dread filled her heart, "Yashiro-san ... Is Tsuruga-san ...?"

"Ah, I'm sorry Kyouko-chan, but Ren… he…. he can't answer the phone right now..."

"Eh?"

So it was true? He really _was _in hospital? But ... if Yashiro-san was okay then surely Tsuruga-san was safe too, right?

"-ko-chan. Kyouko-chan?"

"Yashiro-san. Tsuruga-san's okay right?" she asked unsteadily, "He's not in a serious condition in hospital like they said he was, right? He _can't _be!"

There was a long pause at the other end of the line as Yashiro considered what to say. He hadn't expected Kyouko to find out about Ren so soon and he didn't quite know what to tell her that wouldn't cause her to be even more distressed than she already was. He knew Kyouko was meant to be in the middle of shooting Box-R right now and he didn't want Ren's news to upset her acting.

"Yashiro-san? _Yashiro-san_! Tsuruga-san's okay right? He _has_ to be!"

"Ah ah, sorry Kyouko-chan. Please don't cry. I just got cut off for a bit – the reception in hospital isn't that great. Sorry. And of _course _Ren's going to be okay!"

Well... he better be. Any thought other than that didn't bear thinking of.

_"_He's in surgery right now and the doctors said they're confident he'll be fine!"

Well, no... they didn't say that. They just rushed him into ER without telling the President or him much at all, hurriedly apologising that explanations would have to wait as the second lot of CT and MRI scans that had come back for Ren had shown that his condition had deteriorated and immediate surgery was needed if they were to save his life. But he can't possibly tell such news to an already worried 17-year-old, right?

"It's okay Kyouko-chan. Don't worry, I'm sure Ren will be okay. He should be out of surgery in a few hours and by then you would have finished your work for the day right? I'll come and pick you up to visit him then. I'm sure everything'll be fine. Right Kyouko-chan? … Kyouko-chan? … _Kyouko-chan_?"

Earlier, Yashiro's long pause before he had answered her had sent Kyouko into a panic again and even as she listened to the comforting words he told her, she struggled once more to hold back a fresh torrent of tears as she tightly held onto Corn and Ren. Not trusting her voice not to break, she replied with a murmured, indistinct affirmative.

"Kyouko-chan?" Yashiro didn't like the sound of Kyouko's shaky 'mm' one bit. She sounded like she was choking back tears and he was starting to become really worried. Given Kyouko had been so distressed as to try and call Ren in the middle of her shoot, there was a very high probability that she'd only become more upset as the day passed and become unable to concentrate. Surely there was a way he could help make her feel better? What would Ren have done in such a situation? ... Ah! That's right!

"Kyouko-chan. Kyouko-chan? … It's okay, everything's going to be fine. Besides, Ren will not want you to be distracted because of him. He'd be really upset if he knew that his accident caused trouble for you and your co-stars on set. You don't want him to be disappointed with you for failing to act your role and do your job properly right?"

Disappointed with her? For failing to act and do her job properly?

Yashiro's words made Kyouko recall the image of Ren's retreating back the day she had been unable to act Mio because she had been too depressed over being late for her previous job.

_"First rate of all things," Ren remarked curtly, unimpressed, "Someone who can't act isn't needed on the set."_

That's right, Tsuruga-san had been really disappointed with her and had scolded her for causing trouble for the staff.

"_To be honest, you're being a pain," he said softly, his expression stern, "… the showbiz world is harsh. Enough that it's said 'even if a parent has died, don't drop a job'. No matter how badly you're suffering, when it comes to your work, there will be times when you need to laugh and joke around. At those times, to be able to change your feelings in an instant and get over that makes you a pro. To not let even someone's death affect you makes you first rate…_

_"Not being able to let go of those moods and being unable to act, you should be sent home already… _

_"Someone who can't act isn't needed on the set."_

_Ignoring her shock, Ren walked away, causing Yashiro to run after him._

_"Oi! _Ren_! That was … harsh!" Yashiro shouted disbelievingly, "Surely you could have put it better! Kyouko-chan is depressed enough as it is!"_

_"I know that already," the tall actor replied, not looking back, "but kindness alone won't allow a person with talent to develop."_

_"Besides," Ren turned, giving her a gentle, warm, believing smile, "__I wouldn't ask for something totally unreasonable, especially of someone who wasn't capable."_

That's right. She had told Tsuruga-san that day that she wouldn't make the same mistake again, and that she would take his advice to heart. She couldn't possibly let him down again!

"…ko-chan. Kyouko-chan? Are you there?"

"Ah! I'm sorry Yashiro-san," Kyouko said, furiously wiping away her tears.

"Kyouko-chan, are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine now. Thank you, Yashiro-san. Please don't worry about me. I'll be sure to finish my job properly… Yes, please let me call you again when I finish work today. Thank you Yashiro-san."

Ending their conversation, Kyouko took in a deep breath before exhaling it slowly. With a determination that would have made Ren, Yashiro and even Kuu proud, Kyouko focused all her concentration into becoming Natsu once more. Yashiro-san was right. Tsuruga-san would be really disappointed in her if she allowed her own emotions to interfere with her work. Tsuruga-san wouldn't want to be associated with a kouhai who caused trouble for others on set. She'll prove to him that she can do it. She might not be a first rate actor like Tsuruga-san right now, but she was a professional just like him. Besides, Tsuruga-san will definitely be okay. Corn would make certain of that. Just as the precious blue stone had once helped to take away Tsuruga-san's pain and sadness, Corn's magic would protect him from harm for sure.

With those thoughts firmly embedded in her head, it was the usual, cool and composed Natsu who walked out onto the set. "Director," she said confidently as the man finished wrapping up the latest scene, "forgive my lapse earlier. Please let me make it up during whatever time we have remaining today."


	5. ICU

**Unplanned Revelations**

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Skip Beat or any of its characters.

**Chapter 5 – ICU**

**A/N:** Sorry for the looooong wait! The next should hopefully be up pretty soon since it's finally uni holidays and this was originally meant to be a longer chapter, which I've decided once again to split into parts. In that regards, I've also done a bit of chapter re-naming so that the headings better reflect the chapter content (which is still the same).

Anyway, enough rambling on my part, and thank you once again for all your reviews, alerts + favourites. They mean a lot to me and are food to the writer's soul^^. I will endeavour to update faster and give you something to occupy the tortuous month-long wait for ch161! - I know that I myself am really dying to know Ren's backstory given the developments of ch160!

~SG

* * *

In the intensive care unit of one of the best private hospitals in Tokyo, Kyouko sat quietly by Ren's bedside, occasionally wiping away a stray tear as she watched over her sempai's unconscious form. It was late in the evening around 10.30pm and she had barely made it in time to visit him before the ICU was closed; the hospital Ren had been admitted to had a strict ICU visitation policy where people were only allowed to see patients during set visiting hours. Not only that, only two people at a time were allowed in for a maximum of fifteen minutes. About five minutes earlier, when Kyouko had arrived at the hospital after Yashiro had picked her up from her last job at TBM Studios, the nurses had been in the process of asking any remaining visitors to leave, and it was only with a bit of begging that she had been allowed to visit Ren. Having already seen him earlier, Yashiro and the President – who was dressed normally for once – left Kyouko to stay with the young actor alone while they waited for her outside, saying that they needed to review strategies to deal with the press and decide how they were going to handle Ren's schedule for the next few weeks.

Studying his sleeping face in the dimmed light of the room, Ren's expression was strangely peaceful despite the fact that his partly swollen head was half-wrapped in bandages and he had a small square gauze dressing taped over his left cheek. His left arm which rested over the covers of his bed was battered and bruised all over and his hand was also partly bandaged at the wrist. He also had an oxygen mask over his nose and mouth and had multiple lines and tubes sticking out of various parts of his body which were attached to softly beeping machines to monitor his vital signs. If not for his injuries and the hospital setting, Kyouko could almost have believed from his serene expression that Ren would wake up and say hi to her if she called out to him loudly enough. Sadly, however, she knew that was not the case as she had been informed by Yashiro during their ride in the taxi, and again by a very gloomy and preoccupied President when she had first set foot outside the ICU.

"I'm sorry Kyouko-chan. I know you probably want to talk to him when you see him, but he's been sedated and probably won't wake up until the next day or so." Yashiro had told her gently after he had finally managed to reassure her that his own injuries were only minor. She had been horrified and distressed when she first saw Yashiro that evening - horrified and distressed to see that he had a short line of painful-looking stitches running across his forehead just above his right eyebrow and his right arm, which was resting in a sling, was covered in angry blue and purple bruises, with parts of it covered by gauze dressings. How could she have forgotten about Yashiro and not asked after him when they had talked over the phone? It was _unforgivable_.

"It's really okay Kyouko-chan," Yashiro had smiled at her reassuringly, "It really isn't as bad as it looks. In fact, the President wouldn't let me come and pick you up until he had made doubly sure that I was fine. I don't even have any broken bones. See." Unable to bear her sad and tearily apologetic expression, Yashiro had slipped his sprained arm out of its sling and had tried to cheer her up by wriggling his fingers in front of her and waving his arms and legs around comically until she had given him a small smile. Extremely glad that at least Yashiro was okay, Kyouko had allowed herself to be led into the taxi before she worriedly voiced the question that had been weighing on her heart.

"But what about Tsuruga-san?" she had asked trepiditiously, and was partly relieved when Yashiro lightheartedly told her that his condition had been upgraded from 'critical' to 'serious but stable' and that the doctors were optimistic that he should be fine providing nothing unexpected happened over the next forty-eight hours. For the moment, they had placed him in the intensive care unit to monitor his condition, but if everything went well he should gradually regain consciousness over the next few days. Also, given how badly crushed Ren's side of the car had been in the accident, the doctors were quite frankly amazed that the actor had been so lucky as to get away with just a fractured collarbone, two broken ribs, a fractured wrist and some rather bad cuts and bruises along the whole of his left side.

"The surgeons and nurses were all so amazed they thought he must have had some guardian angel watching over him," Yashiro had recounted to her with a smile, and her eyes had shimmered with hope as she smiled back and silently thanked Corn. But while Yashiro had been cheerful and glad as he announced the relatively good news, something about his distracted manner as they neared the hospital, had bothered Kyouko. He had seemed uncertain and unsettled, constantly fidgeting with his glasses and pushing them back up the bridge of his nose though they were in no danger of sliding off.

Worried again, she had asked him what was wrong, but he had evaded her question with a sheepish smile, "Ah, I'm sorry Kyouko-chan, it's nothing really," he said, scratching his head, "I might have just mis-heard the President... In fact, I'm probably just over thinking things."

Misheard the President? About what? Ren's condition? But didn't Yashiro-san just say that the doctors were optimistic he should be fine? Or was it something else that he had misheard the President saying? Kyouko had been confused, and she had wanted to ask Yashiro to clarify, but by that time they had arrived at the hospital and knowing that the ICU was about to close, Yashiro had quickly rushed her towards the room where Ren was in. Walking into the ICU and seeing her sempai for the first time that day, looking so pale and lying so motionlessly still in the hospital bed with so many lines and tubes sticking out of him, all thoughts about Yashiro's cryptic words had vanished.

Sitting there next to Ren now, Kyouko desperately wanted to take hold of his partly bandaged hand, to feel its warmth and reassure herself that he was okay, but she was afraid to even touch him for fear she would give in to the inexplicable urge to grab onto him tightly and never let go. She wanted to brush back the stray strands of silky dark hair that fell over the bandaged parts of his head and across his handsome face, and she selfishly wanted to beg him to wake up soon. But anything of the sort would be inappropriate and presumptuous for such an insignificant kouhai as herself, so she contented herself by watching his sleeping face quietly, keeping her hands tightly balled in her lap. All too aware that her time with him was limited, she concentrated on memorising his face, afraid of the possibility of not being able to see him ever again. Despite his partly wrapped head and the small gauze dressing taped over his left cheek, he still looked as handsome as she remembered him to be the last time they had talked.

The last time they had talked? When was that? Wasn't it just yesterday she had called him to ask yet again for help and advice on some trivial matter? And she had heard the kind smile in his voice as he unbegrudgingly gave up his precious time? Wasn't it just earlier this week that he had laughed with her at another one of Yashiro's silly lunch-time jokes when they had come to visit her at the Love Me section? And wasn't it just the other day she had caught him red-handed trying to dispose of a shushi wrapper and had scolded him like a child for not eating properly again? How was it that one moment he was walking around perfectly fine and the next he was lying unconscious in ICU? She didn't understand.

Lost in her thoughts, Kyouko started when someone placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. Turning, she found a middle-aged nurse looking at her kindly.

"I'm sorry," she said to her politely, "but I'm afraid visiting hours are over now, and I must ask you to leave. The ICU re-opens tomorrow morning at 10am. Please come back then."

Nodding in understanding, Kyouko cast one last look at Ren before reluctantly allowing herself to be led out.

Walking down the now empty and dimly lit corridors towards the hospital entrance where Yashiro and the President insisted they'd wait for her, Kyouko was shocked to find a half angry and half agitated Yashiro visibly trying not to yell at a stormy-looking President.

"But sir!" she heard Yashiro say heatedly, "how can you say such a thing? Surely in such a situation it would be best to call and tell Ren's parents immediately! The doctors said the next two to five days for him are critical! Surely he'll want their support!"

"On the contrary Yashiro!" the President returned swiftly, his own voice raised in uncharacteristic frustration, "That's the _last thing_ Ren will ever want!"

"'The last thing Tsuruga-san will ever want'?" Kyouko repeated worriedly as she reached them, making the two men turn in surprise, "But President, what do you mean?"

* * *

**P.S**.

For those wondering impatiently (like myself!) just when the hell Ren/Corn/Kuon will wake up, here's my planned story line for the next few chapters (subject to minor change) ^^:

chapter 6: Impasse / Kuu & Julie  
chapter 7: Maria  
chapter 8: Awakening/Kuon  
chapter 9: Unplanned revelations - Corn & Kyouko


	6. Truth & Deception

**A/N:** Okay... I shall just shut up and post this time. As always thanks for reading & reviewing!^^

Disclaimer: I do not own Skip Beat or any of its characters.

* * *

**Unplanned Revelations**

**Chapter 6 – Truth & Deception**

Heading home together in the President's discreet private car, Kyouko felt distressed and uncomfortably awkward as she watched a second argument unfold between Yashiro and the President. Right after she had emerged from the ICU and had worriedly voiced her question over Ren and his parents, the President had greeted her with a tired half smile and had abruptly changed the subject rather than answer her question.

"Ah, there you are Mogami-kun," he had said, trying to sound like his usual cheery self, "It's getting rather late. Shall we head home now? Please give me a moment while I call Sebastian to pick us up."

Watching him pull out his phone and walk towards the hospital exit, Kyouko had been too confused to react, but Yashiro, who was already more than just a little upset over the unenlightening conversation he had been having, had seemed to be incensed. Practically stalking after him, Yashiro had been about to say something when the President's suddenly cold and unfamiliarly soft, threatening voice had stopped him in his tracks.

"Yashiro," he had warned without turning back, "whatever else you want to ask me, the hospital corridor is hardly the appropriate place."

Seated together now in the the expansive interior of the President's black Lexus, Kyouko wished she were anywhere but inside the car. While there were questions she wanted to ask, and she wanted to know why the President was refusing to call Ren's parents and why Ren wouldn't want them to be there, she couldn't stand the tense and almost hostile atmosphere that had slowly built up as the driver drove them towards her place. For all the time she had known the two men, she had never once seen the usually mild-tempered Yashiro look so furious and upset, and while she and Kanae had angered the President once, she had never seen him look so expressionlessly cold and forbidding.

"... but President!" Yashiro visibly seethed, struggling to remain civil in the face of the President's unforthcoming replies, "How can you have told the doctors such an _unthinkable _thing, that calling Ren's parents to the hospital is '_unnecessary _not to mention _unwise_'? Even if you say that Ren wouldn't want them to be there and it's a greater kindness to leave them in the dark til you had better news to tell, I just can't accept it! - Sure, the doctors had said they were optimistic about his recovery, but that was also dependent on how well he did within the next _critical_ 48 hours! In such a situation, isn't it better to have Ren's parents by his side? Given the seriousness of Ren's situation, isn't it too big a risk to take for granted that he'll be okay? _President!_"

Not getting any answers out of the stone-like figure seated opposite him and Kyouko, Yashiro was getting more and more angry by the minute. Just how can the man still remain so dispassionately calm despite everything that had happened? Just what the hell had he meant when he'd said that it was _unnecessary _to call Ren's parents? Didn't he realise that the accident Ren had been in was anything but minor? The possible consequences of any sort of traumatic brain injury were not to be taken lightly! Why couldn't the President, who was usually more astute than anyone else, see that? Was he even truly Ren's legal guardian as Matsushima had said?

In fact, the more Yashiro thought about it, the more he was beginning to doubt the claim. During the few years he had been Ren's manager, he had been there at most, if not all, of the work meetings between Ren and the President, and during those times there had never been anything in their manner to even hint that they had any other connection than a work-related one. For one thing, there was just too much formality between the two - Ren was just too properly polite and respectful towards the man for him to be some kind of family friend however distant. What's more, the President had even threatened to_ fire Ren_ if he didn't make the cut as Katsuki! Surely if the man were really Ren's guardian he would have been more lenient and supportive rather than threatening to fire him?

No matter how Yashiro looked at it, it just didn't make any sense. Just what was the exact relationship between Ren and the President? And given Ren's parents weren't dead as he had initially thought, then what was the deal with Ren's missing family contact?

The more Yashiro thought about it, the more he realised how little he knew about Ren. Despite that however, the talented young actor was someone he had come to regard as more of a friend and a younger brother than a client, and Yashiro was damned if he was just going to sit there quietly and accept the insusbstantial justifications the President had given him! Determined to get an explanation for his preposterous decision not to call Ren's parents, Yashiro once again voiced his vehement objections.

"President, I can understand wanting to wait and hope for the best in such a situation - _who wouldn't_? But even so, you can't negate the very real possibility that something could go wrong during the next two days!_ Just how do you plan to explain things to Ren's family if something does happen?_..."

Half listening to Yashiro's upset protests, Lory struggled to keep his patience as he mentally kicked himself. While outwardly he appeared calm and composed, inwardly he was more than a little worried and was angry at himself for being so uncharacteristically careless. How could he have been so absentminded when the doctors had suggested he notify Ren's parents? Why couldn't he have kept his mouth shut rather than so unthinkingly mumble out his immediate thought? If his response had not implied that Ren's parents were alive, then he could at least have said that neither of them were here anymore(1) and let the connotation behind those words neatly stall everyone's questions. Right now, however, he was stuck trying to think of a way to prevent further speculation over Ren's parentage. Damn it! If only Yashiro hadn't been there when he had made that one stupid slip which was now causing him so much trouble!

Strained and completely exhausted from the day's events, Lory didn't feel up to handling Yashiro's persistent questions. Rather than responding immediately, he sorely needed some time and space to think before he made a further mess of things. Given Yashiro's agitated protests, however, it didn't look like the reprieve he so badly needed was something he could afford; the longer he evaded Ren's inconveniently sharp manager, the more suspicions he knew he would raise, and it would not do to leave Yashiro's dangerous questions dangling in mid air. In such a gossip-hungry industry as they were in, it would be a disaster if such unanswered questions led to wild speculation followed by a full scale investigation into Ren's unknown background. And he needed to prevent that at all costs. While Ren had relaxed enough to obligingly send a video back home to Kuu and Julie and he had grown strong enough to finally take the first steps towards healing the hurt from his past, he was still far from willing to share his secret with anyone. The fragile smile _Kuon_ and not Ren had given him when he'd handed him his video had seemed to say that he was still afraid that everything would just fall apart if his true identity were exposed before he was ready.

But what exactly could he tell Yashiro and Mogami-kun without giving too much away?

Denied the chance to carefully consider the possibilities, there was only one way Lory could think of to deal with the current dilemma. And he didn't like it. While the option was relatively safe given Ren could easily verify his answer if pressed, he disliked having to mislead two people he really liked and instinctively knew he could trust. But short of breaching Kuon's confidence, it didn't seem as if he had much of a choice.

"_President! Just how can you refu-_"

"Yashiro, enough!" Lory finally snapped, sounding angry and frustrated though he was more worried and tired than anything else. "_Please,"_he continued in a softer voice, massaging his temple wearily, "contrary to what you might think, this is _not_ an easy decision for me to make."

Less than satisfied at receiving yet another vague response, Yashiro nonetheless forced himself to calm down at the President's tired plea. Pursing his lips, he did his best to reign back his temper as he waited for the man to finally give a proper explanation. As the minutes ticked by however, it was a timid Kyouko who broke the uncomfortable, tense silence.

"I... I'm sorry," she spoke up tentatively, conscious of the fact that it was probably not her place to interrupt and ask her own question, "But... is there... some sort of reason that the President can't call Tsuruga-san's parents? Does Tsuruga-san ... does he not have a good relationship with his family?"

Sighing tiredly at Kyouko's questions, Lory once again fervently wished he could turn back time and take back his ill-spoken sentence. But what was done was done, and all he could do now was to play with the cards he had left, however bad they were.

"Mogami-kun, Yashiro," Lory replied quietly at length, resigned to his decision, "Ren's parents will both be fine. But Ren will not be if either of them step foot inside that hospital."

"But _why?_!"

_Because, _Lory thought grimly, Ren would literally rather be dead than have either of them fly to Japan and expose his true identity as Kuon Hizuri when he wasn't ready. _Because_ even if he did call Kuu and Julie right away, it would take them more than just 48 hours to clear their schedule and fly over without raising _considerable_ suspicion over their sudden departure. _Because, _given even the slimmest chance that Ren would be okay, he simply refused to compromise the precious life Kuon had spent the last 5 years so desperately rebuilding.

"Because," Lory told Yashiro and Kyouko reluctantly, "Ren's father is dead (2)."

"?... but then, _surely his mothe_-"

"and his mother is happily married to the man who killed him! _Please_, before either of you ask me any more questions, know that by telling you this I've already said too much. While I understand your concern for Ren, I cannot tell you anything more right now without him getting hurt."

Finally getting some extended peace as a stunned, awkward silence filled the car, Lory dropped his head in his hand with a headache. Boy, you had better be okay, he prayed fervently with closed eyes as he wondered how he was going to deal with Kuu and Julie. Not looking forward to the phone call he knew would inevitably come, Lory hoped the two of them wouldn't discover the news till Ren had woken up and he could prevent utter panic by reassuring them that he was fine.

* * *

**Notes:**

If you haven't figured it out what Lory meant by now:  
(1) not here in Japan  
(2) Hozu Shuuhei

Am sadly struggling with writer's block where I know what I want to write, but the words just refuse to come out on paper. As such, while I'm not entirely happy with this chapter, I hope it was okay. ;_; *sobs*


	7. Impasse

**Unplanned Revelations**

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Skip Beat or any of its characters.

**Chapter 7 - Impasse**

**A/N:** All I have to say is, this chapter was so depressing and hard to write ='(

As always, thank you for reading and reviewing! ^^

~SG

* * *

On the other side of the North Pacific Ocean, Kuu was happily humming a love song as he prepared dinner to feed fifty-one people. Given the rare opportunity to spend some quality time together with his beautiful wife, Kuu had decided against eating out and had insisted on cooking dinner instead. Missing the delicious food that his adopted son/daughter had been cooking for him during his stay in Tokyo, Kuu had decided to go Japanese tonight and had gently dissuaded Julie from helping in the kitchen.

Glancing at his watch and finding there was still a while for the rice in the cooker to be done, he decided to prepare one more dish in addition to the fried tofu, crab salad, mixed vegetables, chicken katsu, salmon teriyaki and beef curry he had already cooked. Opening the fridge, Kuu rummaged through the shelves to see what else he could prepare. Only finding turkey and ham which did not exactly blend in with a Japanese dinner, he decided to try the freezer instead and discovered a packet of frozen shrimp.

_Hmm... if it wasn't frozen and the shrimp were fresh, he'd have wanted to eat ama ebi. But perhaps he could do tempura prawn instead? Julie didn't like to eat raw seafood anyway. And come to think of it, neither did Kuon._

Chuckling at the thought as he took out the frozen packet, Kuu remembered the time he had taken his wife and son to a high class Japanese restaurant while they were on vacation in Kyoto. It was perhaps the only time Julie and Kuon had both agreed that food could be offputting. The restaurant he had picked had shashimi as a house specialty, and having not eaten local, high quality, fresh shashimi in years, Kuu had ordered all the shashimi available on the menu and had insisted to Julie and Kuon that it was best-tasting delicacy in the world. Julie, not having eaten raw fish before, had looked at him sceptically while Kuon had muttered that he couldn't care less since he wasn't hungry. Not liking their son's typical meal-time response, Julie had stuffed a raw prawn into Kuon's mouth while they were still waiting for the cooked dishes to arrive, and violently disagreeing with the taste he had thrown it back up immediately.

Mock-scolding him for wasting food, Kuu had been rewarded with a fierce glare before Kuon had tearily asked how on earth he could eat "that stuff". Sure that Kuon was just over-reacting, Julie had picked up a raw prawn herself and had nibbled at it tentatively before grimacing and downing her bowl of miso in one go. "Kuon's right," she had declared darkly, "I married some alien who can eat anything as long as it fills up the black hole he has for a stomach."

Flabbergasted by the unflattering description, Kuu had indignantly tried to defend himself but had ended up pretending to sob pitifully in a corner as Julie started to list all his other faults besides being a glutton, and had even turned to ask Kuon how on earth she had ended up marrying him. Listening to their loving banter, a previously teary-eyed Kuon couldn't help but giggle at their theatrics and he forgot about the unfortunate raw prawns as Julie, for once, restrained herself from over-piling Kuon's plate.

Smiling at the memory as he shook out some prawns, Kuu wondered if Kuon had learnt to cook for himself. _Well ... probably not_, he thought with a wide grin. He could never understand his son's inexplicable aversion to food. Despite that, however, he had somehow managed to grow half a head taller than him during the 5 years he hadn't seen him. Chuckling at the small miracle and remembering how well he had looked compared to when he left home with Lory, Kuu found himself missing Kuon, and his expression turned somewhat sad and contemplative as he turned to grab the ingredients for the tempura batter.

About to pull open the fridge for an egg, he paused as his eyes met the few well-fingered photographs stuck to its door. With the exception of two, all of them were family pictures of some holiday outing the three of them had gone on when Kuon was still young. There was one with the three of them laughing together while wearing matching Mickey Mouse ears at Disneyland, another of Julie and Kuon's heads poking out from the door-flap of a camping tent at some national park, and one of himself and Kuon reeling in a catch together while on a fishing and sailing trip. The other two photos were of a 15 and 16 year old Ren - the first two out of the many dozens the boss had sent which had brought him and Julie some true relief after months of worry. While he still looked overly thin, his expression was much more relaxed and he seemed less worn and strained.

The first one was of Ren surrounded by Lory, Lina and a three-year old Maria during his first Christmas away from home. All of them were sitting together behind a table with a giant, half-consumed birthday cake at its centre. Lory was dressed as Santa Claus and was sitting beside Ren, while opposite them Lina sat holding onto Maria who was dressed as an elf. The picture had been taken by Lory's servant while none of them had been watching, and it captured the sweet, endearing moment when Maria, with the brightest smile on her face, had handed a messily wrapped Christmas present to an unsuspecting Ren. While Lory and Lina looked as if they were struggling to hold back a private laugh, Ren had a startled, bewildered and embarrassed half-smile on his face. That photo had been the one to prompt a teary Julie into starting to talk to him again after months of unbearable silence.

The other picture, dated a few months after Ren's 16th birthday, was of Ren himself, totally relaxed and unguarded as he smiled at the camera as if bemused by the person taking the picture. It was the first photo the boss had sent in which Kuon had been smiling a true smile, and utterly amazed, Kuu had phoned the boss to ask what he had done to make Kuon smile like that again. Chuckling at his surprise, Lory's answer had been totally unexpected.

"He looks beautiful when he smiles like that doesn't he? But I'm afraid I can't take credit for it," Lory had said, "It seems that your son has a knack with crying three-year-olds - or at least with an upset Maria. Maria wouldn't stop crying the afternoon her mother left for an overseas modelling job again so Ren took her out on the pretext they should take some photos to send Lina so she wouldn't feel lonely without her daughter. Somehow that ended up as an impromptu photography lesson, and _that _is the one single gem Maria managed to take among her other botched up close-ups of spiders, lizards and grass."

Running a thumb longingly over the photo, Kuu forgot about the tempura batter as he wistfully wondered how differently their lives might have been if he and Julie had noticed things a little sooner.

If he had been at home more often and paid closer attention to what was going on, would Kuon still be living happily with them now? If he had noticed sooner that his son's cheerful smile and laughter had become overly bright, and that his increasingly touchy moods and unusually short-temper was not just a symptom of puberty, would he have been better able to protect Kuon from all the hurt he had suffered? If he had looked beyond the consistent straight As of his report cards and had noted the teachers' comments on Kuon's disturbing string of unexplained absences, would he have been able to prevent things from getting so badly out of hand? How was it that neither he or Julie had noticed anything til they had received an emergency phone call from some stranger one night, asking them to come to the hospital immediately as Kuon had overdosed on heroin and had been admitted to ICU?

_Overdosed on heroin? _He remembered thinking incredulously_. Just when on earth did his _intelligent, sensible_ and _mature_ 15-year-old son start playing with illegal narcotics? _

Thrown into a complete state of shock and panic, Kuu had turned Kuon's room upside down, and one thing had led to another as he lost his cool while confronting Kuon over the stash of powders and pills he found hidden inside the bottom drawer of his nightstand next to a legal prescription for acute insomnia and anxiety, which, alarmingly, neither he nor Julie had known about. If sickening fear over almost losing their only son had not overwhelmed him, and he had approached the situation with more tact rather than yell angrily at Kuon and demand an explanation, would Kuon still have so fiercely denied that anything was wrong and refused to talk to him and Julie even after they'd calmed down and gently told him how worried they were? Would he have opened up rather than rebel against all their attempts to find out what was wrong and try to help?

If he had heeded the family doctor's advice and had been more careful with the confidential information Kuu had forced out of him, would Kuon still have gone back to the doctor for help instead of taking his breach of confidence as an unforgivable betrayal and flushing all his medication down the drain and resent all their attempts to take him to see a psychologist? If extremely bad timing had not meant that both he and Julie needed to be interstate for a few weeks while Kuon struggled with depression, would THAT incident never have happened and caused his condition to take an even more drastic turn for the worse?

After the nightmare of events that ensued as all three of them struggled to deal with the consequences of what Kuon had done, Kuon had looked so fragile and sick that Kuu had immediately dropped all his jobs to look after him while Julie was still abroad. No matter how much he loved acting, his career just wasn't worth giving up Kuon for. Nothing was. And he knew Julie would have felt the same.

But to his utter dismay, Kuon hadn't seen it that way, and his one unprofessional act had prompted a furious and upset Kuon to finally spill everything. Watching his almost hysterical teenage son break down, Kuu's heart had felt like breaking as nothing he did to try and reach Kuon seemed to work as he listened to all the untrue things he said. That by quitting his job, Kuu had just effectively proven what others had been telling Kuon at work. That he was nothing but trash who couldn't stand on his own two feet. That he was only there in the industry because of his father's name. That without the benefit of being Kuu Hizuri's son, he wouldn't be able to survive and make a name on his own. That all in all he was just a complete failure as an actor, a son and a human being.

"Dad, who am I?" he had asked him in a voice so soft he had to strain to hear, his young eyes so full of pain, hurt and confusion that it tore at his heart, "Am I really Kuon? or just Kuu Hizuri's son? If all anyone ever sees of me is a replica or a shadow of you, then do I really exist? - without an identity that's separate from yours, will anyone ever see the me that is not you? What is it that everyone wants from me? Is it really that wrong that it merits getting fired for not meeting expectations because I'm nothing like you? Or is it that I'm too much like you that nothing I do or try can be considered original? Is it really that wrong if I can't be what you and everyone else expects me to be ...?

"Dad, does someone called Kuon Hizuri really exist?" And he had half-laughed as he answered his own question before Kuu could say anything. "I suppose not," he said, his voice so full of self-hate, self-reproach and heart-wrenching despair as he looked away, "He really shouldn't given all that he's done and can never be forgiven for...

"I'm sorry dad. That you have a son like me."

Lost in the memory, and wondering once again if Kuon would have been happier if he were not his son, Kuu's eyes were beginning to sting with unshed tears til a noisy beeping startled him and he dropped the photo he was holding. Somehow, he had inadvertently opened the fridge and it was now complaining that it had been opened for too long. Shaking his head to clear himself of his depressing thoughts, he bent down to retrieve the photo he had dropped.

_Kuu, you idiot!_ he thought to himself as he stood up again, _What are you doing thinking of such depressing things!_ _He's fine. He's fine. Look at how happy and relaxed he is in this photo! That's right, Kuon's absolutely fine now! In fact, you haven't checked up on Ren in the Japan Times today. Indeed, why don't you go online now to check up on news on him since the rice is cooking!_

Immediately cheering up at the prospect of reading up on Ren, Kuu grabbed an egg from the fridge and cracked it into a glass bowl already filled with flour and ice water. Grabbing a fork, he took the mixture to the study so he could whisk up the batter while he checked out the entertainment column of the Japan Times. With the computer already on and connected to the internet, it was only a matter of clicking on a bookmark to bring up the webpage he was after, and Kuu did so while still cradling the unwhisked batter in his arms.

Seconds later, the sound of shattering glass from the study made Julie turn from the TV and she rushed from the living room to see what was wrong.

"Kuu, sweetheart, what happened?" she asked as she spotted the mess he had made on the wooden floor. She was about to rush to the kitchen to grab a roll of paper towels when she froze at the expression on his face. He looked really pale and ill as he stood facing her, frozen in a state of shock as his back obscured the computer screen behind him. Instantly worried, Julie stepped towards him and placed both hands on his face, "Kuu. _Kuu. _Sweetheart, what's wrong? Are you sick?"

"Ah ... I .. I need to make a phone call, Julie," he said shakily, trying to regather his wits, "D.. do you think you could watch over the soup in the kitchen for me?"

"_To hell with the soup Kuu! What's wrong?_"

* * *

Three days later, Kuu came home early to find a messily scrawled note left on the kitchen table. Swearing at the one word message that read 'Tokyo', a hurried phone call to Julie's manager let him know that his wife had been ill on set and had been persuaded by the director to go home early just half an hour ago. Barely maintaining his veneer of calm as he thanked her manager politely, Kuu rushed to the study to check the flights to Tokyo online before grabbing a cap for disguise and departing the house in a panic. Speeding all the way to the airport, he prayed he would get there in time to stop Julie's rash move.

Dashing through the airport throng as he ran past the check-in areas and towards the security checkpoint, his height gave him an advantage as he anxiously scanned the crowd for anyone who looked like his wife - while Julie's sudden decision to fly to Tokyo was impulsive and rash, she was anything but stupid and would have dressed in disguise. Huffing and puffing, Kuu was glad for once of the horror of LAX airport's ridiculous hour-long wait times while queuing to pass through Security.

Casting his eyes over the long lines of people, his eyes caught sight of the familiar figure of a slender, lithe woman with her unfamiliar dark brown hair tied back in two plaits. With her eyes shielded by a pair of dark sunglasses, she wore a white beret and was dressed in an inconspicuous grey woollen jumper and jeans, and was carrying a familiar-looking school backpack. While her casual, homey get up made her look like some mature-age uni student and nothing like the fashionable model and actress Julienna Hizuri, Kuu knew his wife so well he could spot her a million miles away no matter how differently she styled herself.

With his cap pulled low over his face, Kuu quickly made his way towards her, breathlessly apologising to annoyed and angry passengers as he pushed, squeezed and wound his way through the queues. Finally within reach of her, he took a moment to catch his breath and let his breathing slow before excusing himself to the family in front as he stepped past them to hug his wife from behind.

"Julie honey, _please. _Don't do this," he whispered against her ear, wrapping his arms tightly around her as she stiffened at his unexpected presence.

Sleep-deprived, distressed and utterly overwrought with worry over Kuon, Julie was furious that Kuu would even think to stop her from seeing their only son. Shoving hard against him, she freed herself from his embrace as she turned to face him angrily. "Don't you dare stop me!" she hissed at him in a low, furious voice, trying not to cause a scene, "Nothing you say or do will make me sit here and wait for news from that_ kidnapper_!"

"But honey! You know you can't do that!" Kuu whispered back urgently as he stepped forward to wrap her in his arms again. But it was the wrong thing to say as she violently resisted against him.

"_CAN'T? What do you mean CAN'T?_" she yelled at him as tears suddenly welled up in her eyes, "_How DARE you say that to me when... when!" _

Unable to continue the sentence as she choked back a sob at her mind's image of Kuon lying in a coma in ICU, Julie struggled all the more to free herself from Kuu's firm grasp. "Let go! Let go you bastard!" she screamed hysterically as she punched and kicked at him, "I hate you! I HATE YOU!"

_"_Honey! _Honey _PLEASE! You know I didn't mean it like that!" Kuu pleaded, refusing to let go of his distraught wife as he tried to calm her down. They were starting to draw attention from the crowd but there was nothing he could do now as he focused all his efforts on consoling Julie. Lowering his voice again and whispering urgently but gently to her as she fought against him, he tried his best to appeal to her reason and convince her to go home.

"Julie, honey, the doctors said he's going to be fine. We just have to be patient and wait and believe in Kuon. You remember how furious and upset he was when I dropped a job in the middle just to look after him. You can't have forgotten how he looked when he _begged you on his knees_ not to do the same. How will he react when he wakes up to find that his beautiful mother has done just that? You know he'll just start to hate and blame himself all over again for something that's not his fault. If you go now and accidentally expose his identity as Kuon before he's ready, what will that do to the sense of self-worth he has just begun to find again? Please Julie, _please._ He promised he'll come back to us in the video didn't he? And Kuon never breaks his promises. You know that. We just have to trust and believe in him."

Unable to argue against the sense in Kuu's reasoning as his pained words drew up images of the only time Kuon had ever begged them for anything, Julie eventually collapsed into his arms and sobbed. "The last time he was in ICU we almost lost him!" she cried brokenly against his chest, her tears soaking his shirt, "I don't want a video Kuu! I want to see him in the flesh, even if he acts as Ren Tsuruga I don't care. I want him back. I want Kuon back! If the three months I had left wasn't a joke, what would you have done? Would you still be stopping me from seeing him now? What if this is the last time you and I ever get to see him alive? Kuuuu!"

He didn't want to think about that. Hugging her trembling frame tightly against him, Kuu's own tears threatened to spill at seeing the wife he loved being so hurt, and at being so powerless to do anything for the son who had fled home as the only way to rediscover a life still worth living.

Tucking Julie's head under his chin, he stroked her soft hair repeatedly as he whispered reassurances against her ear, not knowing whether he was trying to convince himself or Julie more, "It's okay honey, he's going to come through. He always does. Lory told us the doctors said he was going to be fine. It's okay, Julie, it's okay. Everything's going to be fine."

Lost in thoughts of their only son, Kuu's cap, which had been dislodged in their struggle, lay forgotten on the floor and neither of them noticed the first distinct click of a camera til a voice in the crowd exclaimed, "Hey, look! Isn't that Kuu Hizuri?"


	8. Between Dreams & Reality

Standard Disclaimer: I do not own Skip Beat or any of its characters.

* * *

**Unplanned Revelations**

**Chapter 8 – Between Dreams and Reality**

Standing unnoticed in a corner, a single white rose clutched tightly in her hands, tears streamed down Maria's pale, shocked face as the sounds of heartbroken crying filled the air. Fighting the hard lump in her throat that made her feel as if she couldn't breathe, she watched as a growing crowd of black-clad strangers gathered round the open coffin near the altar of the church. Though she was too short to see the person inside, she knew irrevocably who it was that lay there forever asleep in a bed of pure white roses. Squeezing her eyes shut tight and shaking her head in fierce denial, Maria clutched at her rose even more tightly, not caring that its thorns were cutting painfully into her palms as she fervently wished for the scene before her to disappear. But pray as she might for the nightmare to go away, God cruelly refused to grant her her wish and the sounds of devastated sobbing continued to assault her ears.

"... so sudden and cruel..."

"Why? It's just too unfair!..."

"To have so much talent and potential cut short at such a young age..."

"Such a bright star like that will not appear in Japan again..."

Frozen where she was, a sharp, twisting pain tearing at her heart, Maria's vision blurred as she opened her eyes once more and a fresh torrent of tears rolled down her pale cheeks. Suddenly feeling a gentle hand on top of her head, Maria looked up to find her grandfather standing there beside her. Seeing him looking so haggard and worn, and dressed so properly in his black suit and tie, she only started to cry harder and sob in earnest with choked, gasping breaths as she latched onto his trousers. Forced to let go as he knelt down in front of her, she let him cup her face with one hand as he used a thumb to wipe away her tears and his other offered her a tissue.

"Maria, sweetheart, won't you say goodbye and put your rose in before they close the casket?" he asked her softly, his own voice hoarse as he hugged her to him and rubbed her back soothingly, "Here. I'll take you."

Numb from all the crying, Maria didn't resist as her grandfather took her by the hand and led her slowly towards the coffin, the crowd parting for them as they approached.

Knowing it was the last time she was going to see the face of the one person she loved so very much, she tried to be brave and not cry. Except, as her grandfather lifted her up and she leaned forward to give away her rose and say farewell, it wasn't her mother's beautiful sleeping face she saw there, but Ren's. Unprepared for the shock, Maria twisted in her grandfather's arms and screamed.

_"No! NO! Why? _Ren-sama! _Ren-sama! WHY?"_

Her high-pitched scream made Lory rush from his study and he entered Maria's room to find her thrashing about wildly in her sleep.

"No! WHYYY? Why did mother and Ren-sama have to die? Why did God have to take them away? NOOO! Give them back! Give them back to me, _please_! I promise I'll be good. Just give them back!"

"-ria. Maria. Maria sweetheart! It's okay. It's just a dream. Shh. It's okay."

Gathering her into his arms, Lory cursed as he felt how hot she was; just when he had thought her persistent fever was finally going down, it had risen up again. Patting her back soothingly, he called out to her again, trying to wake her as she struggled weakly against him.

"Maria. Maria! It's okay, sweetie. It's okay. It was just a dream. Hush. Ren's not dead, he's alive. He's okay, Maria. Ren's okay."

"... grandpa?" the small, uncertain voice that finally responded was teary and exhausted and she slumped limply against him, completely spent from fighting him. Still only partially awake, Maria mumbled worriedly in her fevered sleep, her heated forehead resting against the comfortable coolness of her grandfather's silk pyjamas. "Why? Why can't I see Ren-sama? You promised you'd take me to see him. You promised."

"Hmm? I told you Maria. I couldn't take you because the hospital doesn't let children under twelve into ICU. But they've moved him into the general ward now and I would have taken you there if you hadn't caught a fever. We'll go see Ren as soon as you get better, so go back to sleep now, sweetheart."

"Promise?"

"Promise. Now go back to sleep."

Stroking her back repeatedly, Lory waited till Maria finally fell asleep again before tucking her gently under the covers and going to grab a towel and icepack. Wiping the sweat from her face and neck and placing the icepack on her forehead, he sat beside her for a while, watching her sleep as she hugged the disturbingly realistic Ren doll that Kyoko had given her for her eighth birthday.

Seeing Ren's sleeping face, his thoughts turned once more towards what he was meant to do given the increasingly sticky situation. Transferring himself to the carpeted floor so that he could rest his back against Maria's bed, Lory tilted his head back and closed his eyes tiredly. It had just been over a week since Ren's accident and still he hadn't woken up. While he was heartened by the boy's recent attempts to respond by squeezing his hand or trying to say something when he asked him a question, he wondered if his progress was enough to stave off the list of worrying symptoms the doctors were warning him to prepare for.

_Takarada-sama, each case of TBI is unique to the patient. However, there are some symptoms that are common to those with a moderate to severe brain injury; when the patient is in recovery, he or she may experience __headaches that don't seem to go away or may suffer from things like nausea, repeated vomiting, convulsions, speech difficulties, an inability to waken, or a weakness or numbness in the limbs. He may also have difficulty remember things or experience a loss of coordination, confusion, restlessness or agitation. Usually, these symptoms are short term and go away after a few weeks, or three months to a year depending on the patient. In addition, some of the potentially longer term problems include changes in appropriate social behaviour, deficits in social judgement, and cognitive changes, especially when it comes to things that require sustained attention._

_In Tsuruga-sama's case, w__hile we're optimistic that he'll make a good recovery given his recent reactivity to stimuli, we unfortunately cannot tell you which symptoms he may or may not present once he awakes. __Tsuruga-sama may emerge from his coma with none of these issues at all, or he may have just one of these or several. Again, TBI is unique to the patient. _All we can advise is that you and the people closest to him be prepared to deal with the possible complications and be there to support him as best you can.

_I know that this is not what you or anyone would want to hear, but it is also extremely important to understand that there's a possibility he may not fully recover from the effects of his injury. Some patients who have gone through similar accidents spend five to ten years trying to relearn simple things like walking but may only ever regain fifty percent of their original ability. But again, there have been cases where similar patients have recovered fully in just a month. Whatever the outcome, please be assured that we will do our best to assist Tsuruga-sama._

Massaging his temples tiredly as he ran through the conversation he had had with the neurosurgeon, Lory prayed that Ren would be one of the lucky ones and come away with only minor setbacks from which he could make a swift recovery. Not the sort to leave such a serious matter to chance however, he was already trying to formulate plans to respond to the possible outcomes. Ruminating over the wisdom of keeping Kuu and Julie at bay while still informing them about Ren's progress, Lory winced as he recalled the first piece of Hollywood news to merit a full-page article in the Japan Times since Kuu's box-out debut in America: **LAX A****irport Drama! Japan's Kuu Hizuri aka Hozu Shuuhei Caught in Love Spat With Unknown Younger Woman!**

Taking one glance at the low quality snapshots and the large-print block quote that had accompanied it, Lory's quick mind didn't even need to read the article before he worked out what had happened. Answering Kuu's call that night, the shaky explanation that he gave after asking about Ren only confirmed Lory's suspicions.

Despite their row over Kuon at the security check point, Julie had been the first to recover after Kuu had been recognised. Wanting to divert attention away from the true subject of their quarrel, Julie had taken advantage of the fact that her disguise had held and had softly whispered an apology to Kuu before pushing him away and slapping him hard in front of the crowd.

"If you love me enough to want me to stay, then why don't you go and divorce that oh-so-sweet-and-pretty wife of yours?_" _she had yelled at him viciously before running pell mell out of the airport. Slow to understand, Kuu had stood there looking shocked, vulnerable and hurt before the buzzing disbelief and speculation of his unwanted audience finally made him catch on to his wife's ploy.

"Boss, it... it wasn't pleasant, being surrounded by outraged and upset fans asking me why the hell I was having an affair with a younger woman when I already have the perfect wife..." Kuu had told him unsteadily, "I ... I didn't even know what to say, which just made my supposed affair look even more ... official. And now, Julie... she ... she understands why she can't go and visit Kuon, but she's so angry and upset that she's refusing to talk to me all over again. Is there really no way to let at least Julie come over and see him?"

Hearing how upset and strained Kuu himself was, Lory's heart went out to his old friend and he wished he could find a way to alleviate their pain while still watching out for Kuon's interests. Pondering over the situation again, he wondered if he could somehow use Julie's ploy to set up a situation where her leaving for Japan would not be regarded as suspicious. Given that the paparazzi were currently having a field day trying to figure out the exact nature of Kuu and Julie's alleged marriage breakdown (and were already speculating on their imminent divorce since "a close source reported that the couple were no longer on speaking terms"), could he somehow use that as an excuse to organise Julie's temporary disappearance from America? But how was he going to ensure that her relationship with Ren Tsuruga wasn't discovered?

Sighing over the dilemma, he didn't hear the phone ring in his study despite expecting Kuu's nightly call. Moments later however, Sebastian came to interrupt his thoughts as he knocked softly on Maria's door.

"Sorry to disturb you Takarada-sama, but Hizuri-sama's wife is on the phone."

"Julie?" Lory blinked in surprise as his manservant nodded in affirmation. "Where's Kuu? Is she with her?"

Not waiting for a response, he headed for the study to pick up the call, trying to ignore the ominous feeling in his gut that told him he wasn't going to like the conversation he was about to have.

* * *

Trapped, he wandered around aimlessly not knowing where he was or how he got there as he tried to find a way out of the disconcerting darkness. With no sense of time and place, he didn't know how long it was til his directionless drifting led him somewhere where he could finally sense movement and voices from the outside world. Reaching out, however, what he found there made him uncomfortably distressed and upset. Sad, plaintive voices crying out to him made his mind recall the dark images of anguish and pain he had locked away for so long: his dad's voice, more distressed than angry, asking him why; his mother's, worried and upset, begging him not to shut himself away; a young woman, crying hysterically as she called him a murderer; a friend lying in a pool of blood so motionlessly still. The images were too much for his already traumatized mind to cope, and he flinched away as if burned.

Withdrawing to the safe vacuum he had been trapped in, he would have stayed there like a tortoise in its shell if not for one familiarly deep yet mellow voice that constantly called out to him. Devoid of the sadness, pity and worry that upset him, it instead spoke to him with reassuring normality. At times contemplative yet soothingly light-hearted and at others amusingly sulky and petulant as he complained about something, his strange yet familiar manner provoked his curiosity, and wanting to understand what he was saying he tried once more to break free of his intangible prison.

Catching hold of the peculiar man's one-sided conversations, he let the carefree childhood memories that his voice conjured wash over the disturbing rage, violence and hurt those others had unearthed: standing beside his dad, he softly asked whether the boss was sane as he rode away on an elephant dressed as a Maharajah; stalking the eccentric figure around LME, he made the mistake of giggling at his pirate costume and was unceremoniously stuffed in a sack and kidnapped to play look out on board his giant ship; baited into an argument he never stood a chance of winning, he was conned into acting as a girl with his poor hair was so expertly curled that not even a weeks worth of washing could restore it back to its original state. Finally remembering who the man was, he wondered how on earth he could have forgotten that dangerously shrewd and completely overboard personality.

Using his voice as a bridge between memory and reality, he slowly but gradually came to sense the comings and goings of those who visited him. Sometimes he thought he could feel them touching him, helping him turn so that he slept in a different position or held his hand as they talked. At others, he fancied he could catch snippets of their conversations, though he had trouble making sense of them ...

_"NOOOO! Darling! Just what have they done? I simply cannot work with such … such carnage! If the surgeons had had any foresight to leave him with a bit more hair I could at least try to cover up this bald patch by using extensions, but this! This simply won't do!" …_

_"I'm sorry. If I hadn't distracted you earlier or I had called out sooner, then maybe … maybe this wouldn't have happened. If I hadn't panicked and broken my phone, then maybe … maybe the ambulance would have arrived sooner and …. I… I really wanted to call your parents, Ren, but the president he …. I just don't understand. Even if you're on bad terms with your family, I still think they should be here for you … I'm sorry. Please be okay." …_

_"Arrgh! If that start-up agency serves up yet another love drama where my favourite couple don't end up together, someone's going to taste my wrath! Which screenwriter should I ask to rewrite the god-awful script? And who should I get to play the leads? - no, not you, your acting skills in the love department still sucks as far as I'm concerned … Boy, you do realise if I ever get dragged to a mental asylum for perfecting the art of self talk it would be entirely your fault.." …_

_"Darling! I've found it, I've found it! The perfect solution to the no hair dye dilemma: just let the poor dear shave it all off and grow it back naturally. He'll look gorgeous again after a few weeks! ... Huh? What do you mean 'no'? It's perfect!"…_

While the disjointed bits of conversation he heard made him confused and puzzled and some of their more amusing exchanges provoked him into trying to respond, it wasn't them that piqued his interest the most, but someone else. Although that someone rarely spoke, whenever she did, her soft, sad voice made his heart ache unbearably for reasons he didn't understand. Endearingly sweet, the undeniable pull of her presence made him acutely aware she was someone very important to him and his instincts railed at him to wake so he could reach out, wipe away her tears and wrap her protectively in his arms. But trying to remember who she was, his chaotic mind refused to register the few clues he had and he wished she would talk to him more or hold his hand like some of the others did.

As if his silent plea had been heard, he was grateful when her next visit coincided with the boss's and he voiced the things he wished he could say himself.

Sensing the sad, worried girl sitting silently beside him one time, the boss had walked in and had greeted her with his usual heartening optimism. Hearing the sound of her chair being scrapped back, the odd machinations of his mind conjured the indistinct image of her small, petite form standing up perfectly straight with her hands clasped neatly in front of her before she bowed gracefully and returned the boss's greeting.

"Good morning, President,"

"Ah, Mogami-kun, please don't mind me. How's Ren today?"

Listening to the awkward silence as they both sat down at opposite sides of his bed, he could almost see her shaking her head as she stared down at her lap dejectedly. Knowing himself to somehow be the cause of her depression, he badly wished he could wake up and tell her that he was okay. But trapped inside a body that all too often refused to obey his mind, all he could do was listen and wait before the boss finally broke the silence and gently encouraged her to speak.

"Mogami-kun," he said kindly, "you can touch him and hold his hand and talk to him you know. In fact, I'm sure Ren would much prefer it if you did all of those things rather than sit there quietly. He might even smile if you told him about your day, although I've only managed to get a frown and some nonsensical complaint when I told him about mine. I think he must be getting annoyed with me for watching dramas in his room and commentating on them all the way through."

"Eh?" She sounded so soft and uncertain even as he imagined her looking up at the boss with hope in her eyes.

"Yes, Mogami-kun, he can hear you. Although, I'm not sure he always understands since every time I've asked him something he's always given me the wrong answers. "

"Um. President, wh... what do you mean?"

"Hmm? Well, just the other day I asked him what I should say to a certain director who insists on halting filming indefinitely until he wakes up and recovers, and he mumbled something about elephants and pirates before telling me that he'd rather starve than eat cooked frogs again."

"Huh?"

Catching the wry smile in the boss's voice, he wondered if he'd been talking out loud while dreaming since he couldn't recall being able to speak despite how much he wanted to. As if echoing his doubts, the sad girl's next words were once again timid and unsure.

"President, you ... you really don't have to- "

"Mogami-kun, I'm not trying to make up a story to cheer you up. I meant it when I said that Ren can hear you."

"But …" As if afraid of the hope in his words, she fell quiet again and frustrated by the miniscule progress, the boss sighed softly, echoing his own disappointment.

Feeling the man take hold of his hand, he tried to squeeze it to let him know that he was awake and could hear them, and he wanted to listen more to her sweet, familiar voice so he could learn who she was; while the boss had addressed her as 'Mogami-kun', the name sounded foreign to his ears as if part of him knew her by something far less formal and much more intimate and he desperately wanted to remember what it was. Trying to move his fingers, he must have succeeded a little because he was gladdened when the boss voiced his next welcome suggestion.

"Mogami-kun, how 'bout we try this. Why don't you hold his hand for me while I talk to him? He can usually squeeze your hand even if he doesn't speak. But you'll have to come over to this side since he doesn't like using his injured hand. Ready?"

"Huh? ... Um. Okay."

Sensing them swap positions, he eagerly waited til he felt both her small, warm hands clasping his own and he willed his cold, weak fingers to curl around hers even before the boss annoyingly poked him on the cheek.

"Hey boy," he teased, "if you don't wake up soon I'll tell Mogami-kun all the embarrassing and stupid things you did when you were younger. I might just ruin her image of you as the cool, perfect gentleman. Hmmmm ... Shall I tell her that acting game you played with me when you were eight and I had you in a frilly pink dress and you almost cried when your mother hid the hair straightener because she loved how pretty you looked with all your hair curled up?"

"EHH?"

Wanting to glare furiously at the old geezer as he chuckled at the girl's stunned surprise, he would have thrown something at him if he could, but hearing that girl's joyful exclamation when she realised he _had_ squeezed her hand, his initial annoyance at the boss grudgingly melted away. If letting him tell her that humiliating story meant he could hear her relieved and hopeful smile which warmed him like sunlight, then he supposed he didn't mind - how could he when he had been the cause of her sadness and tears over the past few days? Or was it weeks? He couldn't tell.

Intrigued by the boss's unexpected revelation, she started to ask him questions about what he was like as a child, and hearing her start to relax and talk more and at times giggle at some of the boss's recounts of his embarrassing exploits, he was torn between feeling warm and happy at listening to her speak and wanting to squirm and protest against some of the things the boss was telling her. Distantly, a part of his mind also felt distinctly uneasy at how much the boss was revealing about his childhood self, but unable to place where the uneasiness was coming from, he dismissed it as of no great importance and instead concentrated on trying to wake up so he could stuff something down the old geezer's throat.

Fortunately, the cruel torture ended when the soft buzzing of a phone interrupted their conversation and the boss took his leave, saying he had an urgent matter to attend to.

"In any case, Mogami-kun" he said, "please try to talk to him more. Even if you don't have anything to say it doesn't matter since he usually reacts more to the tone than the content."

Feeling cheered and encouraged, she took the boss's advice when they were alone together, and he was inexplicably happy when she kept hold of his hand as she spoke to him about random topics. Following her aimless yet comforting chatter, her animated manner drew up an image of a cute, pig-tailed child chattering away at him with adoring, almost worshipful eyes and a dazzling smile on her face. Puzzling over her visage, a distant part of his mind whispered something to him about fairies and hamburger steaks and a small creek in an enchanted neck of the woods, and he wondered if he was going mad. Trying to work out why his odd instincts insisted that the combination made sense, it wasn't until she had to leave that he slowly began to piece the puzzle together.

"Look, I'll lend you Corn," she said cheerily as he heard her stand up and rummage for something in her bag, "I'll put him here on the table right beside you, so just in case I'm not here when you wake, you'll at least know I visited and will come back." And sensing her place something onto a hard surface near him, he wondered what it was.

"Well… I'll be going now. Please get well soon, Tsuruga-san. I'll see you tomorrow after school."

_Wait! Don't go! I … I … Please come back! Corn? What's Corn? Isn't it Kuon? Isn't that me? Why are you putting me on the table?_

Jolted by the memory of his real name, his previously fuzzy image of her came into sudden, sharp focus and a kaleidoscope of images assaulted him as his mind matched her visage with remembered snippets of conversation.

_ "Are you a fairy?"_

_"Nooo, I don't want that! We've just become friends! ... Can I write you?"_

_"...for revenge on Sho Fuwa!"_

_"I want to become an actress to create a brand new me..."_

_"Sensei, please look clearly! I'm not Misaoooo!"_

_"You're wrong! Corn can definitely do it! He was born to be a King!"_

_"Nooooooo! You're so mean! I'd rather you wake me up than stare at me from below!"_

_"…. because look! Isn't the glass just like Princess Rosa?"_

_"… it's my first time making gelee au vin… my heart beat so fast ..."_

And like bits and pieces of a puzzle falling into place, he finally had the answer.

Kyoko.

Smiling in his sleep as a warm, fuzzy feeling spread over him, his mind wandered erratically through memory lanes filled with seemingly insignificant moments spent with her, and as if she were the master key required to unlock all of his other memories, the rest of what he was missing gradually came back to him. He worked out that for some reason he was in a hospital trapped in a coma, and he could recognise Yashiro, Miss Jelly Woods and even others like Director Ogata who came to visit him on the odd occasion. But despite being able to distinguish them from the doctors and nurses, he was still unable to tell night from day or tell how much time had passed between different people's visits.

Wanting to see their faces and not just hear them, he constantly tried to wake and respond to all their words of encouragement. But no matter what he attempted - whether it was opening his eyes, moving his limbs or trying to speak - he felt as if he were imprisoned in a bubble whose thin surface effectively barred him from the outside world. Each time he tried to push through the thin little barrier, he felt as if he were going to sink through treacherous quick sand and be sucked down into a deep dark abyss from which he'd have no hope of being dragged up from; it was as if there were a sinister voice lurking patiently beyond, waiting to swallow him and threaten his very existence with things that a part of him knew weren't true. _Yes Kuon, _the voice seemed to beckon invitingly, _open your eyes. Open your eyes and see the worthless trash that you are, the monster that you've become because you couldn't escape from that man's shadow, because you killed your friend, and because you're a coward who can only run and doesn't deserve to live._

Afraid to lose to his past self who he had simply dealt with by burying under a different persona for five years, Ren didn't quite know what to do. So hoping that time would present some sort of change and offer him an alternate solution to waking, he waited. But that option too was swiftly taken from him when the president came to visit him again.

Expecting to hear his usual optimistic cheer which made him smile unconsciously, Ren was looking forward to hearing about his day which was bound to be filled with amusing complaints and which he was sure was fifty percent made up just so he could try and get a reaction from him. Instead, he was alarmed when the president softly called him by his real name, and his consoling and almost apologetic tone made him upset as he brushed back his hair in an oddly affectionate gesture.

"I know you're trying, Kuon, but I'm really sorry. Your mother gave me an ultimatim last night, and your father… neither of them can stand the situation much longer, and I'm afraid I don't really have the heart to stop them given what they're going through. Both of them are coming over and taking you back if you don't wake up in three more days. Please, Kuon, wake up for us."

_But president! Boss! Godfather! I'm trying! How long is three days? I can't tell! Please, just give me a bit more time!_

Sent into a blind panic after the president left, he felt the urgency to act quickly if he were to prevent trouble and stop his mum and dad from breaking another job contract because of him. Feeling scared and uncertain, but knowing that there was no other choice but to try and dive through the safe bubble he was trapped in and to face the darkness there, he took a deep breath and once more tested the thin barrier separating him from those he loved and cared for. But sensing the nauseating chasm of negative thoughts and emotions that were waiting to engulf him even before he tried to go through, he stepped back despairingly, feeling sick and hopeless.

He couldn't do it. There was no way he'd be able to survive that sort of hell and relive the nightmare he'd been trapped in before the president dragged him out.

"You're wrong! Corn can definitely do it!"

Startled by the unexpected, strong and determined voice, he turned to see Kyouko glaring at him with the same cute yet angry pout she had given him when he had questioned her conviction that Corn had learnt to fly freely through the sky.

"Look," she said as she took hold of his hand, and somehow he found himself transported outside into his own hospital room, "I've already lent you Corn, see" she pointed to the blue stone she had placed by his bedside one morning, "so his magic will protect you just like he's protected me. You'll make it, Tsuruga-san. Please. _You have to come back_._"_

Turning to stare into her beautiful amber eyes and to take in her bright believing smile, he unconsciously lifted a hand to touch her face, but just as his fingers were about to brush her cheek everything disappeared again and he was once more left alone by himself.

Smiling sadly at the tricks his stupid mind was playing on him, he nonetheless kept staring at the space where Kyouko had been earlier, "I don't believe in magic, Kyouko" he said softly, almost helplessly "but I think... no, I _know_ ... that I believe in you."

That's right. As long as she was on the other side waiting, then he should be okay, right? Even if he didn't exactly make it out in one piece, she wasn't the sort of person to abandon a friend in need (well, at least he hoped that was what she considered him to be in her heart, although he'd dearly love to turn that into so much more one day).

That's right. If he were to make any progress with her at all, then he had to at least try to make it back to the other side.

Closing his eyes and taking in a deep breath once more, he held a picture of a smiling Kyouko in his mind. Wanting to believe in Fate just this once, he offered up a prayer to whoever was listening that he'd at least remember her when he woke up. But knowing that the Gods were all too fond of playing tricks, he smiled uncertainly at the bright visage of the girl he loved and worked up the courage to finally say the words that he'd wanted to say to her for so long but may never get a chance to on the other side.

"I... I love you, Kyouko," he confessed hopelessly, before turning and bracing himself to dive through the bubble ...

* * *

**A/N:** Hi again, I hope this extra long chapter made up for my 3 month long disappearance^^; (i was busy and went on holidays over xmas etc etc).

Hmm, I was toying with the idea of putting a conversation between Rick and Kuon in here while Ren was trapped in his little bubble, but then I decided to leave it out. Anyway, he definitely wakes up in the next chapter! =D

In response to those who's finding this slow, I know I may have been trying all your patience by dragging Ren/Kuon's awakening over several chapters, but I really don't want to write a story where he just gets into an accident and wakes up, and the story carries on from there with no explanation as to how the others reacted or had been coping while he was in a coma. In any case,

Thank you for all your reviews, complaints, criticisms and support as well as your infinite patience! Your support means a lot to me!

A special thank you to the Lonely Crimson who PMed me and prompted me to update.


	9. Awakening

Disclaimer: I do not own Skip Beat or any of its characters.

* * *

**Unplanned Revelations**

**Chapter 9 – Awakening**

Sitting in a chair by Ren's bedside, Yashiro tried to fight off sleep as he watched the actor's peaceful sleeping face. While he saw the wisdom in the president's words - that he should go home and get some proper rest rather than spend all his free time dozing off in hospital - he just couldn't bring himself to leave, especially not after all the excitement from the day before when Ren had briefly opened his eyes and had mumbled something incoherently before falling asleep again.

Empathizing with Yashiro's concern all too well, Lory had reluctantly let him be; "Just remember to look after yourself, Yashiro," he had reminded the manager with a frustrated sigh before heading off to pick up Maria.

Waiting for the two of them to return, and anticipating Kyouko to drop by soon, Yashiro searched for a distraction to keep him awake. Spotting the TV remote on the bedside table, he was about to reach for it when the blue stone beside it caught his eye. Pausing, he frowned as he once more pondered over its significance.

Earlier in the week the president, Sawara-san and himself had visited Ren together and they had walked in to discover the water sapphire sitting innocuously on the table. Furrowing his brow as if something about it bothered him, Lory had picked it up and turned it over in his hand before turning to them, "Yours?"

Shaking his head in response, Yashiro and the president had both been surprised by Sawara-san's answer, "Isn't that Mogami-kun's?"

"It's Kyouko-chan's/Mogami-kun's?"

"Well... I think it is anyway," the head of the Talent division had continued a bit uncertainly, "It looks like the same stone Ren found for her when I unintentionally caused her to drop it down the stairs. But for her to leave such an important thing here... it's rather unexpected..."

"Oh?"

Listening to Sawara recount the story of Kyouko's Corn stone and how Ren had somehow provoked her into very shockingly giving him the middle finger before storming off in a black rage, Yashiro had been rather stunned. He knew that Ren and Kyouko's relationship had been less than cordial at the beginning, but for Ren to have made the ever-proper-and-polite Kyouko retaliate with such a vulgar gesture, he wouldn't have believed it!

"Unexpected right?," Sawara-san had responded to his blank stare, while the president's perplexed frown seemed to have deepened, "she must be the only girl I've seen a usually nice Ren upset on purpose. Although... lately, he seems to be doing that even without trying."

With that observation, their conversation had lapsed into silence as they all looked at Ren, each silently hoping that he'd wake soon. After a while, the president had reluctantly returned the blue stone to the table and their visit that day had passed in uncharacteristic quiet, with the usually chatty president seeming somewhat preoccupied and disinclined to talk.

Picking up the blue stone now, Yashiro turned it over in his hand. Much as someone else had done a few days earlier, he found himself pondering over a boy named Corn. For Kyouko to have been reduced to tears when she thought she'd lost the stone he gave her, the boy must be someone very important. Who was he for her to still remember him and obviously still be fond of even ten years after they'd separated? Wasn't Sho Fuwa the only boy (and pretty much the only friend) Kyouko had grown up with and cared about? So who was this Corn? How did he fit into the picture? Was he (or had he once been) more important than Fuwa? And why put Corn's stone next to Ren's bedside? Was Kyouko perhaps hoping it would take away whatever it was that was trapping Ren in a coma just like it would eat away all her sadness when she was down? But surely that was just make believe that the Corn boy used to cheer her up, right? It didn't actually work?

With his head swimming with questions, Yashiro's exhaustion gradually caught up with him and he fell asleep still thinking about Corn and the blue stone.

* * *

Something wasn't right. He didn't quite know what, but just that something wasn't. He felt so tired as if he hadn't slept for days, and yet a part of him knew that that wasn't the case. He tried to turn in his sleep, but every time he did it hurt, and he met resistance as if something were tying him down. Opening his eyes briefly one time, he thought he saw faces, but before he could make out who they were everything became a sudden, disorientating blur and the cacophony and flurry of movement that ensued made him badly disconcerted. He didn't like the noise, the light and the painful poking and prodding, so he stubbornly went back to sleep again, wishing everything would go away. But in a place where people were determined to wake him, there was only so much sleep he could do before he did wake, and so he eventually did on a relatively quiet morning.

Roused by the sound of a soft, yet persistent beeping, Kuon reluctantly opened his eyes. He felt weak and exhausted and his head hurt as if he were experiencing a hangover from hell. Turning his head tentatively to one side, he tried to locate the source of the constant beeping and fuzzily took in the sanitised white walls around him, absently noting the sparse furniture and the vaguely familiar equipment in the unfamiliar room he was in...

_Where? This ... isn't my room ... Hospital?_ he thought in weary confusion before memories of the vicious street fight he had been in last night assaulted his mind. Recalling the nightmare, a half-desperate, half self-mocking laugh threatened to escape him as he drew an arm over his face, ignoring the slight pain that the small movement caused him. _Did I lose? Is that why I'm here? ... Or did I finally lose it and try the unthinkable?_

In any case, he didn't really care. He just wished his head would stop pounding and that it wasn't morning or midday so that the room he was in wouldn't be so damn bright. Hoping that if he turned the other way, away from the offending window with its open curtains, he would be able to avoid the light, he gingerly tried to roll to his other side and froze. What he saw there startled him from his fuzzy half-asleep state and he immediately became wide awake.

Slouched in a chair close to his bed, and snoring almost imperceptibly, was a man in his mid twenties whom he did not recognise. Dressed in a khaki suit and wearing a dark green tie, he had light brown hair and wore a pair of round glasses which looked like they were about to slip off the bridge his nose. If not for the fact that he was in a hospital with a complete stranger for reasons he was yet to ascertain, he would have found the sight comical. As it was however, there was only one logical conclusion he could draw from having a complete stranger in a suit keeping watch over him while he was asleep in hospital: he had run in with the law.

Finally.

And the guy in the chair was probably some plain-clothes officer patiently waiting for him to waken so he could interrogate him. The fact that neither of his parents were there meant that they were both probably at work and had yet to learn of the situation - there was no way either of them would be absent if they knew. Or were they both filming interstate again? He couldn't remember. Whichever it was, he'd better get himself out of hospital fast.

Frowning darkly, Kuon sat up and gasped involuntarily as a sudden sharp pain lanced through the side of his partly bandaged head. Doubled over, with his head clutched in his hands, his original intention to sneak out the room surreptitiously was derailed as he squeezed his eyes shut in pain and struggled to fight back a nauseating spinning sensation.

"Ren?" Yashiro's sleep-fogged voice croaked as he sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. The actor's involuntary gasp of pain had woken him from his light catnap, and realising that he was finally awake and sitting up in bed, Yashiro was on his feet and next to him in no time. "Ren, you're awake! You're finally awake!" he exclaimed excitedly in relief and surprise. Much to Kuon's dismay, Yashiro then immediately began to rattle on rapidly and incessantly about things that did not make sense, "Thank goodness, Ren! We were all so worried! Kyouko-chan and the president will be so relieved! Ah, let me call the president - he went to pick up Kyoko-chan just then and should be back any minute. They'll be so thrilled! Oh, are you okay Ren? How are you feeling? Does your head hurt? Ah, I should probably call the doc-

**"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?"**

Kuon's sudden, angry outburst cut through the manager's animated rambling like a knife, and an uncomfortable silence filled the air as Yashiro froze at the hostile glare that was being directed at him. Belatedly, as they stared at each other, they both registered that something was not quite right.

_Did... did Ren just ... yell at him? In English? ... What did he just say?_

_This guy ... he speaks Japanese? ... Does that mean I'm in Japan? No, that can't be right… the man's probably just a Japanese-American like dad. But then, why ..._

"... R-Ren? Are you okay?" Yashiro's worried enquiry interrupted Kuon's confused thoughts and more than annoyed his glare turned icy, causing Yashiro to quickly drop the hand that he had extended in a gesture of concern, "Ren? ..."

"Who are you?" Kuon demanded coldly, switching languages with a bit of difficulty.

"Eh? What do you mean?" Yashiro was becoming more and more worried by the minute. He didn't like how angry Ren looked and how confused he seemed to be, and ... was he speaking Japanese with a slightly foreign accent? No.. that couldn't be right. He must just be imaging things ..."Ren, I'm Yukihito," he prompted gently, "Yukihito Yashiro ... your manager, remember? We work togeth-"

"Yukihito? My manager? Manager of what? My name's not Ren!"

"But … Ren, it's me. Don't you remember? I manage your schedule and all your appoint-"

Hearing the man constantly calling him 'Ren', Kuon felt his temper fraying as he struggled to deal with his pounding head and at the same time try to make sense of what was going on. While he was partly relieved that the stranger beside him wasn't some civil servant as he had previously thought, he wasn't happy at all to be stuck with an annoying idiot who thought he was someone else. Obviously it was a case of mistaken identity, though he utterly failed to see how that was even possible given that he didn't look remotely Japanese with his blonde hai–

_Wait! Wh- What the hell?_

_The f***ing bastard who dyed his hair was going to pay!_

"-ments for work. Ah, I'm sorry, you probably weren't expecting to see me first when you woke up, right? But the president, he thought it best not to call your parents despite all my protes–"

At the mention of his parents, something inside Kuon snapped and before Yashiro even had time to blink, he found himself knocked violently to the ground. Despite the persistent pain and dizziness in his head, Kuon somehow managed to pin Yashiro down by straddling his waist, and before the rush of adrenaline left his strained body, Kuon deftly looped the tube from his saline drip tightly around Yashiro's neck, "Ren! REN! What are doing? Stop! You're cho-kin eeee…. ELP!"

Ah, he got it. So this was just another tasteless, hate-prank those f***ing sh**heads thought would be fun to play on Kuu and Julie Hizuri's hapless son – he must have lost that fight in the alleyway last night and the victors had decided to leave him a memento before sending him to hospital. As for the unknown stranger beneath him, he must be the unfortunate gaffe hired to test his mettle after he woke. The same trick they used on him in 8th grade was getting old – paying some unsuspecting newbie co-actor to befriend him before betraying him later in some shape or form; leaving a false note to tell him that the shooting location for the day had changed, or saying that the filming schedule for work had been switched to another day. Anything to land him in trouble with the directors was fine, and this time it seemed that dying his hair for him was just the right thing. Well, he'd make sure that the bastards paid for the deed after he finished with this guy.

Tightening his makeshift noose even more, Kuon watched impassively as confusion, panic then fear played across Yashiro's features as he frantically tried to claw loose the thin tubing cutting into his throat. Waiting till the man had turned sufficiently blue, he relented and loosened his hold on the saline tube slightly, just enough to let the man gasp for breath. Giving the struggling man some time to recover, he waited a short while before leaning in close.

"Yukihito was it?" he asked in a threateningly soft whisper, enunciating each word clearly against the manager's ear as he smiled congenially, "Now tell me, which bored audacious soul thought it would be funny to dye my hair this delightful colour while I was sleeping? I'd be more than glad to extend my heartfelt thanks to them. Hmm? – Oh, and before you think of lying to me, let me give you this warning. Despite what everyone thinks, I don't resemble my father one tiny inkling. I'm far far from the kind, generous, likeable and _gentle_ person that _that man_ is. Well? Who was it that did this?"

Staring wide-eyed into Ren's icy grey eyes as his smile turned disturbingly cold, Yashiro could barely speak as he continued to gasp in lungfuls of air. "Wh…what … What are you …. talking about Ren?" he rasped out shakily, frightened by the malicious glint in the actor's eyes, "Your … your hair … has always… been that colour."

"Wrong answer, Yukihito. Shall we try again?"

"Ren! Snap out of it! … We're … we're not filming BJ right now!" Trying in vain to push the heavy actor off him as he felt the saline tube begin to constrict his throat again, Yashiro tried to sit up as his gasping voice turned hysterical, "Ren! Stop it! You're scaring me! … If you end up acci … dentally … killing me … you're going to land … yourself in jail and … and your career will …. will be … over!"

"My career? What career?" Kuon suddenly laughed bitterly as he let the tube loosen again, "perhaps that was already over even before it began." The mention of his work brought back nothing but angry, painful memories of him being fired for reasons he couldn't understand. Staring into Yashiro's eyes, he let out another self-mocking laugh before, inexplicably, he smiled at him again. But instead of the cold, malicious smile that had graced his face just moments earlier, this one was so broken, sad and pained that it caught Yashiro completely off guard and he stopped struggling beneath the actor.

Still panting from the exertion of trying to get out under Ren, Yashiro nonetheless felt compelled to reach out. Even in his acting, he had never seen him look so vulnerable before. "R-Ren?... Are you okay?" he asked worriedly, but his concern seemed to have the opposite effect as Kuon's expression changed again, and his smile turned disdainful before it disappeared altogether under a completely unreadable mask.

"You don't get it do you?" he asked quietly, emotionlessly, "My name's not Ren. But then again, even if you did get it, you wouldn't be able to fix anything, would you? But perhaps I can remedy that myself… "

"Ren? What on earth are you talking about? If you're name's not Ren, then what is your name? Hey, someone! _Doctor! Nurse! Ren's awake! Help!"_

"What was that accident you just mentioned again? It wouldn't be an accident if my killing you was 200% intentional now, would it? If going to jail is what it'll take for more than just one person to acknowledge that I'm not him, that I'm different, and that I really exist, then perhaps it's worth it…."

"Ren! Stop! You're talking nonsense. _Someone help!_ HELP! _REN'S AWAKE! HEEELP!_"

"Ha! … Can't even kill a chicken… But perhaps I might do better if it's an actual person? What do you say I give it a try Yukihito?"

Just as Yashiro's earnest yells caused the doctors and nurses to rush into the room, Kuon tightened the saline drip lethally around the manager's neck.

"Tsuruga-sama! _Tsuruga-sama! Stop! You're going to strangle your manager!_"

As the doctors and nurses panicked cries fell on Kuon's deaf ears, and their attempts to detach him from Yashiro was all in vain, a returning Lory, Kyoko and Maria also rushed into the room.

"Ren! Ren, _let go of him, boy!"_

"Tsuruga-san!"

"Ren-sama! REN-SAMA!"

Just as one of the doctors were scrambling to fill a syringe with sedative, Lory's strong voice cut through the panic, "BOY! Let go of Yashiro AT ONCE!"

Called back to sanity by an unexpected voice that spoke English with a familiar Japanese accent, Kuon finally turned to see those who had entered the room.

"Boss?" he called out uncertainly as he completely let go of the saline drip. Why was the boss here? Why him instead of his mum and dad? Were they okay? Who were the white-coats and the two crying girls standing behind the boss in the doorway looking worried and scared? And who was the man beneath him who he just tried to strangle? Why did he want to strangle him again? As the flood of questions overwhelmed him, Kuon felt the strength drain from his whole body as his overly stressed and disorientated mind struggled - and failed - to make sense of the everything. Where was he? Did he die? Was that really the boss dressed in a normal-looking outfit?

"Boss, what are you doing here?" he asked shakily as he tried to stand. He looked lost and dazed like a helpless child as he stood unsteadily, and Lory hurried over as the doctors and nurses attended to Yashiro. Just in time, Lory caught Kuon as a dizzying sense of vertigo assailed him, and he slipped once again into unconsciousness.

* * *

**A/N: Gaaaah… I'm so sorry this is sooooo sooooooooooo late! But I've just moved across the ocean to live in the land of the rising sun, and between adapting to a new life and job, I've been a bit busy. But yes! I'm still here and I'm still writing this even without my beloved home internet. (Oh, where art thou? May you soon exist in the place where I live). Anyway, please R&R if you're still following this story! Thank you! ^3^**


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